The Power of Three
by CrouchingAppleHiddenMuffin
Summary: It all ended because of the fear. Fear consumed the Gods of Olympus. Fear lead to the destruction of Camp Half-Blood. Fear, is why we are on the run. AU. Perlia later. NicoxOC possible. Graphic Content. Rating raised.
1. The End Of A Normal Life

**Behold. I am crouchingapplehiddenmuffin. I have written something in a flash of inspiration at 1 am. What would happen if the gods feared the Demis? They would do the only thing they know how to do. Smite some beeches. Anyway. I am not entirely sure if I will continue this as it is completely AU. It's meant to be a multichapter story. Gimme some support if you think its worth continuing. Other wise I'll call it a one shot and have a Dr. Pepper. Peace. ~Muffin**

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><p>Power is a strange thing. It changes things. It changes people. It can make you miserable, or it can make you happy. There is a point however, where power begins to corrupt. Power can quickly give way to fear. Fear is the mind killer. With enough fear, a person could enslave an entire nation, or an entire planet. There is a point where you begin to believe that because you have power, someone else wants to take it from you. And that, is exactly what happened to the Gods. They began to fear. They feared us. They knew what we were capable of, they had seen it before. We had defeated almost all of the titans, they could barely contain one. They feared what we might do. So Hera hatched a plan, a plan so evil that Hades himself thought it was a bad idea. The plan to kill the Demi-Gods by wiping Camp Half-Blood of the face of the planet. The rest of the gods were appalled at this abomination Hera had conceived. But most decided it was for the best. They figured they could always have more kids. A few of the gods decided against the plan, the ones that fear had yet to take full hold of. The big three. The rest were convinced. Hera went ahead with her plan. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, hatched a plan of their own. A plan to save as many as they could, before the deed was done.<p>

I was having a dream the night before End day, or E-day for short. Well, the dream was more like a nightmare. I was walking through what used to be camp half-blood. There were bodies everywhere, the cabins were gone. There was so much blood that it all ran together into a river flowing toward the lake. There were two others with me, but I couldn't make out their faces. Then my father appeared in front of me. "Percy, this is what will happen." I was shocked. I didn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. "Why?" That one word was all I could muster facing reality of what I had just heard. "The rest of the gods fear you. All of you. They believe that you will try to overthrow them." I sank to my knees, I felt tears welling up in my eyes. "My brothers and I are not so heavily affected by fear, we see through its deception. I am warning you my son, you have until day break to escape. Save as many as you can but you must flee. Hades and Zeus are giving similar messages to Thalia and Nico right now. There is nothing more we can do after this. At dawn, Camp Half-Blood, will be erased from existence." Then without warning, I was thrown from my sleep with a sharp gasp. A cold sweat covered me. I threw the blankets off my body and proceeded to have a mini-panic attack when I saw the clock. Day-break was less than an hour away. I grabbed everything that mattered to me in that cabin and threw it into my pack. Some clothes, the watch Tyson had made, a photo album Annabeth had given me and a few odds and ends. I felt like I was packing for a quest, which I guess this was. The last quest I would ever take. I hadn't even bothered to change out of my sleeping clothes. A tee shirt and flannel pants would have to do. I burst out of the door to my cabin and turned straight for cabin one. I opened the door to find Thalia pulling on her famous Death to Barbie shirt. Upon hearing the door open she turned to see me.

I swallowed hard. This confirmed it. Dad had said that Nico and Percy were being told as well. "It's true then?" I heard him sigh heavily before responding "I guess it is." I hung my head for a few moments before I resumed packing. I didn't have much in this cabin anyway. It all fit in my pack without much fuss. "Thalia, we have.." He looked down to check his watch. "A little over thirty minutes. Who are we going to save? Better question, Who would believe us?" That was the harsh reality of it all. We could wake up the whole Camp and warn them, but no one would believe us. He knew it, and I knew it. Crap.

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><p>Nico appeared out of the Shadow behind the statue of Zeus. He had his pack over one shoulder. Fifteen minutes till the end.<p>

The three of them said prayers for those whom they were leaving behind in the camp. Twelve minutes till the end.

They each took out their phones and called one person, that is what they agreed. No need to cause a panic. Ten minutes till the end.

Thalia called Annabeth, Percy called Grover, and Nico called Clarisse. Annabeth didn't answer. Grover told Percy to talk to him at breakfast. And Clarisse said many many bad words. Six minutes till the end.

All hope lost, Nico suggested Shadow travel, but it was decided to save that for later. They ran through the door of the cabin and high tailed it for the border and beyond. Three minutes till the end.

They ran past Thalia's tree and kept going. Thirty seconds till the end.

A brillant flash of light lit up the night sky as the fire of a thousand suns and the wrath of eleven gods was focused upon the camp. A shockwave raced outward knocking them to the ground. The wave was so powerful that it broke windows and set off car alarms in New York. The heat caused nearby trees to start smoking or burning. They didn't move, they laid there face down in the grass waiting for it to end. Then just as suddenly as it had started, it was over. Camp Half-Blood was no more. The sun was rising on the horizon. Shakily, the trio stood to their feet, their heads turned away from the carnage that had ensued behind them. Percy, was the first to turn around. Thalia and Nico soon followed suit. They took slow steps toward where the Camp had been.

The first thing I saw was Thalia's tree. It was burning. Argus was nowhere to be found. As soon as my vision crested the hill, I felt my dinner rise in my throat. It was far worse than the dream made it out to be. It wasn't bodies. It was body parts. Blood everywhere, and on everything. The big house was half gone half burning. We slowly made our way back towards the cabins to look for the survivors we all knew in the back of our minds that we wouldn't find. Once we arrived, I lost my dinner. I keeled over and retched, emptying the contents of my stomach onto the ground before me. I slowly regained my footing to find Thalia, sobbing and Nico in a similar position to me. There was nothing left. The cabins had been turned to splinters. Splinters that had pierced bodies. We walked through the devastation, hoping for any sign of life. There was none. The swords from Hephaestus cabin had butchered people. Most of them were skewered to trees by the force of the shock wave. These were people we had known for years. Dead. Mutilated. All around us. A particular sight was the one that lay near the middle of it all. Annabeth. She had a great gaping hole straight through her stomach, I could see the ground through it. She had cuts all over her body and her arm had been torn off. But the worst thing of all, was the expression on her face, and in her eyes. It was one of pure agony. She had not died in her sleep. I closed her eyes and I cried. I screamed. I fought the reality with all I had. I didn't want to believe it. They had woken the camp up in their beds before it happened.

We didn't stay long, we couldn't. We heard sirens, we figured the mist would take care of this. So, we headed for the nearest shadow and headed anywhere but there. I took one last look at the place, before I shut my eyes as Nico got us out of there.


	2. Who Did We Think We Were?

We appeared out of the shadows in Los Angeles. An alleyway to be exact. A stray cat went running at our appearance. We had nothing and no one. Everything was lost. The Gods had turned their backs us. Save for our parents, they were the only reason we had not been killed in that mini Armageddon. Nico looked like he was about to fall out after taking us all this way. Thalia looked like she could snap like a twig at any moment. I had never seen her looking so defenseless. I swear if she had stubbed her toe she would have broken down crying. The sun hadn't come up on this side of the country yet. We decided now would be a good time to find a place to hide from the Gods. We were fugitives now. We needed somewhere they couldn't see. But there was one problem with that. We had zero dollars. We had drachma, which is pretty much useless in modern day America. If we had happened to live in ancient Greece we would have been set.

The three of them decided to just bunk down there for the few hours they had till the sun came up. They didn't have much choice, all they had were the clothes on their backs and the things in their packs. (No Rhyme intended.) Percy slumped against a wall in the alley next to Thalia whom had already been sitting there. Nico sat on the opposite side of the alley, it wasn't very far across. "What do we do now?" Nico broke the silence for the first time since they had arrived. No one really had any idea. The whole plan had been to survive, and now with that accomplished everyone was drawing a blank. Finally Thalia spoke up, with a shaky voice she said "They thought we were going to overthrow them right?" Percy nodded. "Well, Let's make their lives a living hell." As she spoke her voice steadily gained strength.

I felt like my heart had been ripped out, placed in a blender, blended, and then forced down my throat. I had no idea what to feel. All my friends, everyone I had ever known (except for Percy and Nico) were all dead. I felt nothing. I needed something. I needed vengeance. I needed to feel like my friends didn't die in vain. But, I knew that there wasn't anything I could do. They HAD died in vain. They had all gone to Hades because of fear. We didn't say much after what I said. We just kind of sat there in absolute silence. Nico's head dipped, he had dozed off. Percy and I just sat there in silence. "We can't do it Thals. How are we supposed to make Gods lives hell?" I didn't really have an answer for him. I felt fear begin to creep into my mind, along side a good amount of doubt. I mean who did I think we were? We are talking about Gods here. The ones who smote and entire camp of innocents because they feared them. We were about to declare war on the ones who govern all things. In retrospect, it sounds even stupider.

Right as Thalia said it, I knew that it was impossible. We would need power unattainable for a mortal. We would need time. We would need to disappear. We would need something more powerful than the Gods themselves, we would need the one who created the titans. We would need Chaos. The hard part was finding him. All I knew is that he existed. Now I just had to find him, convince him to make me, Thalia and Nico immortal, and hope he doesn't turn me into a light fixture when he finds out I plan to kill the Gods. Crap. I am so screwed.

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><p><strong>Yeah yeah I know it's short. I'm kinda going the way of God of War here, sorta. This case I'm not killing all the gods but the big three. Cool eh? Unfortunately chapters will continue to be short unless an amazing thing happens and I figure out how the hell they can find Chaos. But I'm not worrying about that right now. Reviews make me update faster. ~Muffin<strong>


	3. How To Not Formulate A Plan

_Present Day  
><em>

_Trouble in Southern California Today, as a suspected terrorist plot unravels. An group of individuals only known by the name Three, has been causing mayhem throughout the LA area over the past few months. Nothing is known about this group aside from the fact that they are not interested in money and do not appear to have a fear of death. _The report went on and on. The local news did a whole segment on us. One supposed "Expert" claimed to have interviewed "the leader" and said that we had links to Al Qaeda. Ha. That's a laugh. I mean seriously, Do I look jihad to you? Do you see a turban here? Nope. Just a beanie.

_Four months Ago_

Then it dawned on me. The guy's name is Chaos? So, logically speaking, we cause enough trouble and he should appear. Or something like that. Who was I kidding? We may as well have dressed up in chicken suits and run around like we had a bad hit of Meth. That might have worked too. My face lit up in that dank alleyway and I started to stand but I noticed a strange weight on my shoulder. Upon further investigation (You never know, I could have sprouted a tumor in that alley. It's LA after all.) I found Thalia. She had fallen asleep and her head was on my shoulder. All bets were off at this point. She just looked so.. calm. I mean, don't get me wrong. I have seen her asleep before, but we had always been on quests. Her expression was usually tense since death could have been right around the next turn for us. But now, we had nothing to loose. Nothing to fight for, except for survival of course. Now though, in the face of extinction, this girl looked unafraid. She looked peaceful. She looked beautiful. I admit it, Thalia Grace is totally HOT. Like burn your hand if you touch her hot, and she is currently asleep on my shoulder. . . Well, I wasn't gonna disturb her. Who knows? We could die today. One of the other Gods could find us and smite our unholy asses. So for right now, I was just gonna sit here, formulate a plan, and enjoy the view of the hottest ex-hunter this side of the Rockies.

Did I mention she was hot? Trying to come up with a coherent plan with a beautiful girl asleep next to you is a lot harder than it seems. Unless of course, you happen to be gay, which I am not. Definitely Not. I ended up just keeping watch, to make sure no hammered out of their mind hobo stumbled along and stabbed us for wearing converse in his alley. I found my vision drawn to her once again. Dammit. There was a wall behind us, I could try to prop her up against it or something. Of course, she would probably stab me for even thinking that. Right, that would be bad. Stab wounds aren't something we can afford right now. Nectar and Ambrosia are in seriously short supply. Every time I tried to think of a plan I felt and urge to look back to her. Damn you hormones. Damn you. Sitting there wallowing in self pity, I shifted my position slightly, and behold karma came back to bite me in the ass. She started to fall sideways away from me, headed straight for a mouth full of what appeared to be a half eaten pudding cup in a diaper. Quickly, I shot my arm out to grab her shoulder to keep her from face planting. Did I mention that she seemed to be a heavy sleeper? I pulled her back into a sitting position and noticed something. This was my chance. I could lay her down and stand up, (my butt had started to go numb at this point) but then my hormones flared up again. Crap.

I woke up having not known I had been asleep. On top of that, I woke up in a position I didn't remember being in. My head was on Percy's shoulder, and his arm was around me. . When did that happen? I didn't even remember falling asleep. Did I get knocked out? Then something occurred to me. I was in Percy's arms, basically. One arm anyway. BITCHIN! Er. I mean. Oh who cares. I'm gonna die anyway. I've had a crush on the big dolt since before I joined and quit the hunters. Speaking of that, I wonder how many demi-god hunters got killed... No. I can't think about that. Dammit. I can't cry again. Not again. What I need is a plan. A good one. Nico is still asleep and I don't think Percy knows I'm awake. Hmm.. I could have fun with this.. A half smirk formed on my face as I wondered how far I could get before Percy freaked. But, my question was answered before I even had time to enact my plan. His hand moved in my direction, and he laid it on my thigh. Thank Gods I was wearing jeans, partly because had he touched skin, I would be redder than a tomato but, mostly because I'm not entirely sure what is on the ground in this alley, but it would likely give me some kind of disease. He clearly thought I was still asleep. So I waited to see what he would do.

_Just do it Percy! _I was shouting at myself. I knew she was asleep. I knew I could die at any moment. And I knew that I had never felt a girl's chest before. Mr. opportunity was knocking. But then, I knew my luck. Somewhere in the back of my mind was rational Percy, and he was making a lot of noise trying to convince hormone controlled Percy to not do this. Rational Percy figured that Thalia would wake up just as he touched her and following with her temper, she would beat the living crap out of him. But hormone Percy was thinking three words, BOOBS! MUST TOUCH! I was trapped in a mental gridlock. When suddenly, hormone Percy brutally murdered rational Percy with a ham sandwich. So my hand moved. At this point, I figured death was mere moments away. I had my hand on Thalia's breast and... Nothing. She didn't move. VICTORY IS MINE! I pushed my luck and squeezed a bit. Too much. "Percy. If you wanted to cop a feel, you could at least buy me dinner first."

He froze. I'll give the dolt one thing, he has stones. He's lucky I'm not castrating him right now. "Uh.. How long have you been awake?" He stuttered. I held back a laugh, but I did note that his hand had yet to move. "I woke up before you put your hand on my leg." I opened my left eye a bit and noticed his expression was one of some one whom was just scared shitless. Hilarious. Then his mind seemed to catch up with him and he quickly moved his hand away. I felt a slight frown form, I kinda liked that I came to realize. What? I'm eighteen. I'm allowed. Go away Mom. "Um.. Sorry Thalia.." I suddenly felt like messing with him. "It's fine, I'm just glad you didn't walk in a few seconds earlier this morning. I sleep topless." He stiffened to a point where I think I could have nailed a sign to him. I was a bad person.

At the mention of the word "topless" Rational Percy surrendered to hormone Percy. I immediately began to image that particular image. A blank expression on my face. But then realization hit me, if she sleeps topless, that means the only thing that had been between my hand and skin was her shirt. At this point, I was surprised that I wasn't dead. Small victory. I would take that. "Earth to Percy, come in Percy!" She practically screamed in my ear, shaking me out of my mental porno. "Err sorry.. You really sleep topless?" She nodded with a devious grin. I made a mental note to pretend to be asleep tonight.

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><p><strong>BEHOLD THE DEVELOPING LOVE INTEREST! :D Just an FYI, there might be a good amount of filler chapters while I figure out how exactly to bring Chaos in. At this point everything is up in the air, and I think I'm gonna raise the rating on this one if it goes like I think it will right now. Oh well. I'm gonna try to write longer chapters but that means more time between updates. Which would you rather have, Longer chapters or quicker updates? REVIEW AND TELL ME OR I WILL FIND YOU AND THROW A PEANUT AT YOU. Not really. I hate peanuts. ~Muffin.<strong>


	4. An Unwanted Swim

_Present Day_

We still had pretty much no idea what we were doing. The media had begun to treat us like a terrorist organization. Even though there was only three of us. We had been ripping this town a new asshole for close to three months now. Every time they thought they had us, we would vanish without a trace. The Gods couldn't even find us. Well, the ones who were looking couldn't anyway. Our Dad's knew where we were. Hell, they thought we had a good idea. Even they had never seen Chaos in person, but they didn't know what we wanted from him. They didn't know that we had declared a secret war on the Gods themselves. But again, it all came back to that one phrase; Who hell did we think we were?

_Three Months and Twenty Nine Days Ago_

Eventually, we had gotten off our asses and left that alley behind us. It had been just over twelve hours since the end of camp, but it felt like five minutes ago. We needed a place to hide, somewhere to set up shop. So to speak. Since Thalia had woken up I'd explained my plan to her and she seemed amazed that I'd come up with it. I recall her saying that she never figured me for the brains. I laughed at that. Nico woke up a bit after that, which was what we were waiting for. So we collected our things and headed out.

We walked around for a while, and I noticed that we were getting a lot of looks. "Is it just me or is everyone we pass doing a double take?" Nico spoke up, "It's not you." Then a thought came to mind, what if the other Gods knew we had survived? I voiced my concern, "How do we know the other Gods think we are dead?" We stopped in our tracks. They hadn't said anything. The reason? The answer was obvious. We didn't.

We got off the street as soon as we could, ducking into a small coffee shop. We seated ourselves in a corner booth and turned away the waiter whom soon walked up to the table. Little did we know we ould soon find out why we were getting looks. We were on the news. _..and we go live to Sean Adams just outside of New York City where a youth camp massacre has occurred. Sean, what is the scene like there? Well Diane it is complete pandemonium here as just twelve hours ago there was an extremely large explosion in the camp. The epicenter of which was in the area of the children's cabins. Now the following is extremely disturbing, and this is only and initial report, but at this time there does not appear to be any survivors. Except for three people who are unaccounted for. Percy Jackson, Thalia Grace and Nico Diangelo._

My breath caught in my throat, and I nearly fell out when our pictures appear on screen. _Of course these three are persons of extreme interest to the authorities. They are as of now suspects in what could be considered genocide. The NYPD is currently offering a reward to anyone who can give in information that leads to their capture. _That was the moment when I wished I could drop through the floor. Now we really needed to disappear. I felt the eyes of the entire room on me. We needed out of here, like now. I stood from the booth and hauled ass for the exit with Thalia and Nico right on my heels. I felt it right then, fear, worry, doubt. That little voice in the back of my head telling me that the police would just out of the next car and arrest me. Fear, I came to realize was a powerful weapon.

We didn't stop walking for a good long time. Everywhere we went, I thought I saw eyes turning toward me. Call it paranoia, but that's what I saw. Eventually we ended up on the bridge over the LA river. "Jesus Percy, will you slow down!" Thalia shouted at me, I stopped in my tracks and she ran into me, go figure. I lost my balance and slipped. I started to fall over the edge of the bridge, I felt myself begin to fall. I saw my life flash before my eyes. I thought it was ironic, that I had survived all these adventures only to be taken out by a slippery sidewalk.

It happened in slow motion. I happened to stop right in a puddle on the sidewalk, and I had been right behind him when he did. I walked right into him and he slipped. I felt my heart drop, I saw him fall. As soon as his legs disappeared over the side, I felt my world ending. Then I did something that surprised even me. I jumped after him. I dived over the side right after him and here I was, falling to my death when suddenly I remembered my fear of heights. But, I didn't feel afraid. He was tumbling in the air I was diving straight. If anything we would die together. I grabbed hold of his hand and he looked at me like I was out of my damn mind. And at that point I was, I had just jumped off a bridge. I looked back down at the rushing water just a seconds fall away. I wondered if it was even near deep enough to keep us from hitting bottom. It could be an inch of water and a thousand other things. Isn't that funny? A daughter of Zeus dies by smacking into concrete like a bug on a windshield. The irony of it all. My life flashed before my eyes. I saw everything. My regrets, hopes, dreams, fears. I felt despair at the thought of death. I closed my eyes and I wondered if I had done enough to send me to Elysium. That was the last thought that went through my mind before we hit the water.

I didn't know what she was thinking. She had jumped over the edge of a bridge, for me. And she was afraid of heights. She knew good and well I could survive a fall into water, but she jumped anyway. She grabbed my hand. I looked at her, astounded. I would have said something but I didn't have time. I saw a tear escape from her eyes before she closed them, expecting death. Then we hit, my back taking the brunt of the force. Then I was submerged. Instantly I was thankful for my fatherhood, as the impact didn't hurt me as much as it should have. I looked over to Thalia, but she was gone. My hand was empty. The impact had jarred our grip loose and she was gone. Unconscious, in water. I didn't have much time. I swam downstream as fast as I could, but the water was murky and polluted making it hard to see. But I kept looking. Then I found her. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her from the water. I pulled her up onto the bank of the concrete river and checked her for signs of life. She wasn't breathing and I didn't know CPR. But I did know one thing. I knew that I could control water. I laid my hands on her and focused.

For a few seconds nothing happened, but then, I felt a tug on my gut. I felt the water in her lungs. I moved it, out of her lungs up her throat and out of her mouth. It was a putrid brown color. I turned her head to the side so it would drain out easier. A small stream of it spilled out as soon as I did so, flowing freely back into the river. I felt relieved. Once it was all out, she didn't cough, she didn't sputter, she didn't anything. I, being eighteen and having no medical knowledge whatsoever, figured her lungs were empty. So I did the only logical thing I could think of. I pressed my lips to hers and blew as hard as I could into her mouth. And for once, the fates were on my side. I felt her tense. My eyes opened and I saw hers wide staring into mine. She thought I was kissing her. Well, now I'm dead. I broke away quickly. As soon as I did she took a deep breath and coughed hoarsely. A few more drops of water flew out. Then she just looked at me, "D..Did you save me?" I saw a tear come to her eye. I didn't say anything, I just nodded. She jumped at me and hugged me. "Thank you. Thank you so much." I felt her tears run into my shirt. I returned her embrace as she cried.

No one, had ever risked anything for me. I was always the one saving lives or being a hero. I had never felt such gratitude. I sat there bawling on the river bank as he held me. And, I didn't feel embarrassed. I felt.. safe. Nico ran up soon after that, he looked honestly surprised that we weren't dead. Encouraging.

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><p><strong>Longest chapter yet. Go me. I do intend to have a bit of romantic tension between Percy and Thalia over the next couple of chapters. ie. They both want each other but both are too afraid of screwing up their friendship. A legitimate thought since they are two of the three demi-gods left. So far as they know. That is not a spoiler.. or is it.. I'm just a bad person. Oh well. Have fun and please review. Constructive criticism is encouraged. Flames are discouraged. ~Muffin<strong>


	5. We Meet Mr Buttram

_Present Day_

It finally happened. The cops put a bullet in me. Of course they were surprised as hell when the ocean swept over them like they weren't even there. A shot in the foot doesn't hurt that much anyway.

_Three Months and Twenty Five Days Ago_

After a few nights of sleeping on the street and dodging the cops. We were fed up. We needed money, showers and preferably a bed. The only problem, we were wanted by the state of New York, which meant, we needed another way. Which left us very very few legal options, one of which was begging. We were not going to do that. Nah uh. Not in this life time. So we were only left with the illegal options.

Over the past few nights we had sort of adopted that alley we had spent the first night in as our hide out. We slept in sleeping bags and the end of it. After the third night, we all stank to high heaven so no one came near us. To make matters worse, Thalia and I had it worst, since we had taken a swim in the river. Wonderful. This was the point where we decided that we needed money. So we made up a plan and waited.

We decided that mugging a rich looking person would be our best bet. That way we only had to fight one person. So we picked an alley a few blocks from ours and laid in wait. We had it planned to a T. Thalia would fake being injured, stabbed or shot, we left that up to her and the moment. While Nico and I hid in the shadows waiting for our mark. We had picked up a pair of baseball bats beforehand, since we figured we needed weapons. The waiting was the most irritating part. We had to wait till it was dark or the mark would see our faces, but then it still had to be pretty light or we wouldn't be able to see what we were doing. Eventually however, we got lucky. A kid who looked about our age turned and headed down the alley. Thalia got in position.

I was more than tired of smelling like the LA river. If this is what it took to get us into a hotel and a shower, so be it. The mark entered the alley and Percy nodded at me, I moved into the middle of the alley. I fell to my knees and clutched my stomach like I had been stabbed. "Help! Somebody help me!" I shouted as loud as I could. I knew no one but this kid could hear me. We had picked this alley for a reason, abandoned businesses on both sides. The guy fell for it hook line and sinker. Trying to play hero he ran up to me and crouched in front of me. He looked like your average LA teen, oversized everything but the hat. "Hey are you alright?" Then the trap sprung. My fist came up like a bullet as I threw a sucker punch across his jaw. He predictably fell flat on his ass, holding his jaw. "Aw hell no! I ain't getting mugged by a fucking bitch!" He stumbled to his feet and reached behind his back, and before I even had time to throw a second punch, he stuck the barrel of a pistol in my face. "Punch this bitch!"

This was not according to plan. As soon as I saw the glint of this pistol I jumped out of the shadows behind the mark. I stepped up behind him and took a swing at the back of his knee. Nico followed my example but he chose to go for his shoulder. He crumpled like a beer can from the blow to his knee and dropped his gun from the hit on the shoulder. "Fuck!" Thalia quickly picked up the fire arm and took aim at the mark. He sat up on his knees, one hand clutching his shoulder the other his knee. I placed my bat on his shoulder, he turned his head slightly to glance at this new presence and swallowed hard. "So this is what the 95's is doing now? They blind sidin' 88's with fucking tricks? That's low, even for y'all." **(points to whoever gets that reference) **I wanted to just smack the punk then and there. "An what you gonna do with them bats man? You think that shit scares me? Man I shot nigga's twice yo size before." I glanced up at Thalia with a raised eyebrow. She shrugged "Hit him again." I moved the bat off his shoulder and held it in the air ready to strike. "Lift your arms." He turned to look at me like I was nuts. "You out yo mind fool. Why would I do that shit?" Nico chuckled darkly, "Because otherwise, this bat is gonna make a mess out of the side of your head." At that point the mark paled, he obviously wasn't as much of a bad ass as he thought he was, but he didn't lift his arms. Nico was about to take a swing when I beat him to it, I swung as hard as I could and struck his fore arm and from the sound, I broke it. "Shit! Ow dammit! You broke my fucking arm!" Thalia then spoke up for the first time so far, "Take out your wallet and all the money you have on you and throw then towards me." Then Mr. Badass showed up again, "Or what bitch! You gonna shoot me?" Thalia stepped forward, "I wouldn't waste the bullet." She then cracked the barrel of the pistol across the mark's face ripping a large gash in it which began to bleed instantly. He howled in pain and held his face with his good arm. "Do as I said, or next time it will be the bats." Next thing I knew the mark had thrown his wallet and a few stacks of hundreds on the ground at Thalia's feet. She knelt down, opened his wallet and looked at his ID, she then snickered as she read his name aloud, "Gayford Buttram"

She took the money from the ground and the wallet and stuffed it in her pockets before throwing the wallet back to him. "Well, sorry about the arm and the face Gayford." I chuckled as Nico spoke. "I'll be keeping the gun, never know when you might need one." She waved the pistol in Gayford's face before she turned around and made her way out of the alley. Nico followed suit but I stayed behind to make sure that Gayford wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. "You think you and your punk ass friends got it made right now don't ya?" Gayford spoke up for the first time since he got his face smashed it, a wound that still bled heavily. He stood shakily to his feet holding his broken arm with his good one. I still had Riptide in my hand. "Well let me tell you something, Mr Jackson! I'll be calling the cops soon as you leave, an collect my reward money. I'll tell em that I just got jacked by that fugitive from NYC! I saw y'all on the news!" He laughed in my face, I felt my temper boiling. I was nearing my breaking point. "I hope they don't catch you! I'mma put the word out! My hommies will be looking for y'all and when they find ya, I'm gonna make sure that make the bitch suffer." That was the last straw. My temper broke. I lifted my bat and swung as hard as I could at him. I struck the side of his head with more than enough force to kill him. He went down with a sickening crack as his skull shattered under the aluminum bat. He fell face first into a pile of garbage and I stood there shaking, as I realized what I had just done. I looked at the bat, the end of it was red, mixed with a little pink. Brain matter. I ran. I got the hell out of there as fast as I could. I kept a hold of the bat and caught up with Nico and Thalia in a matter of seconds. "We gotta go, now!" I was freaking out. "Percy what's wrong?" Thalia looked at me genuinely concerned, with shaking hands, I held up my bat.

I couldn't believe it when I saw the bat I knew what he had done. My eyes widened, I looked at Nico and so had his. We had killed people before, but never someone who couldn't fight back. Percy had brained this guy with a baseball bat! But at this point, there was nothing we could do. "Let's get out of here." I tucked my new gun into my waist band and flicked my shirt over it like Gayford had done. Then we hauled ass out of there. We went to the LA river again and threw the bats in, since they were metal they sank like bricks. Thirty minutes later we were in a dive motel and I was taking my first shower since the end of camp.

Nico and I counted the money we had gotten from the dead guy, all in all he had seven thousand dollars on him. Hell that's all he threw to us, he could have had more, but we didn't check. Seven thousand dollars. Three ways thats close to two grand each. We figured either the guy had stolen it or was selling drugs. Either way, he was dead and we had his money. So far as the cops were concerned it had been a gang killing. We had committed our first crime, and vanished without a trace.

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><p><strong>So our protagonists have committed their first crime. Percy has killed his first non-demigod. Holy crap I must be nuts! Or it could be the triple espresso in my blood stream. I think I'll blame the caffine and call it a day. Love it? Hate it? Can't live without it? Review and tell me damn you! Oh and just in case you didn't know, my first name ain't rick so I don't own the characters I portray. Well, except for the dead guy in this case. Also, sorry for the extreme accent on Gayford, having never met a gang banger I don't know how the sound so I improvised. Happy day. ~Muffin<strong>


	6. Shocked and Slightly Embarrassed

_Present Day_

_New information out of New York today, as authorities have linked the Los Angeles criminal group Three to a bombing of a youth camp several months ago. Details are few at this time, but CNN will be keeping you update on this story as it develops._ It appears that it will be impossible for my friends to rest in peace at this point. I didn't know whether to laugh about it, or get angry. I just shook my head, feeling the explicit need to throw something through the television.

_Three Months and Twenty Three Days ago_

The cops didn't find the body for two days. The area we had picked was more desolate than we thought. They didn't find any evidence whatsoever. I sat there in our motel room watching the news report on it. _In other news a well known member of the 88th street gang was killed several days ago. The man whom went by the alias Ford in the gang was found in an alley off 98th street. Police were quoted as saying that Ford was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that small mistake, cost him his life. _The reporter went on to say that the police had nothing on the killer and that they were calling it a drug related murder. An officer on scene was interviewed and he spoke on how the victim was way out of his territory and that was likely the reason for his death. I couldn't really describe how I felt when I heard that. I mean, really, how are you supposed to feel when you realize that you have gotten away with murder? I didn't know. I had killed people before, enemy demigods and the like, but this felt different. I didn't feel guilt, as I knew what that felt like. No, this was something else. Remorse maybe. I didn't have to kill him, but then if I hadn't he would have gone to the cops. We'd be screwed then.

Then it hit me, I didn't feel remorse. I felt that I had to rationalize what I had done. I'd done it to protect my friends and myself. There it was right there, my rationalization. My fatal flaw was loyalty after all. Ironic it seemed, I knew that if I was ever killed, it wouldn't be for me. I would end up going to Hades in defense of someone else.

I admit it, Percy and Thalia were worrying me. I know I'm younger than them but dammit, I'm not blind. I saw what they had. I knew what was inevitable. I knew that eventually I would end up being a third wheel. Percy had saved both of our lives on many an occasion, Thalia's swim in the river being more recent. I knew what we had to do. We all did I guess. We were on a quest, but it wasn't a quest given by the Gods. It was one against them. The great prophecy was a few years late. We were going to kill those sadistic bastards, but it would take time. Our Dad's would be left out of it unless worse came to worst. We hoped that wouldn't happen. But, if Percy was right, we needed to cause a lot of trouble to get Chaos to appear. So, I went out on walks a lot. I was looking for potential targets. I saw a lot on those walks. Everything from drug deals to drug busts, kidnappings to prostitutes. I realized how much the Gods didn't care. The deists were right in their own way I suppose.

Percy had stayed at the room and sent me out with some money to pick up food. I would have argued but I was too hungry to care. I walked down the streets of LA by myself looking for somewhere half decent to get some food. One ear bud jammed in my ear listening to the melodies Green Day. Something I rarely had the opportunity to do anymore, even before the end of camp. I was the daughter of Zeus, one of the campers that everyone simply had to meet. I never had a moment alone except for the bathroom and sleeping. In some ways, the destruction of camp had been a relief of sorts. But, I was pulled from my thoughts as the McDonald's I had seen so far caught my eye. My stomach growled in revolt, demanding to be fed. So I strolled through the doors with a smile on my face.

I had half eaten my cheese burger by the time I got back to the motel. Nico had been out on one of his walks when I had left, but I figured he'd be back before me so I got him something too. When I returned to the room however, lo and behold, Nico was still out. Percy was seated against the wall on one of the beds. He turned to look at me as soon as the door opened, but he gaze quickly shifted to the paper bag in my hand. "Big mac?" I lifted the bag and tossed it to him. He caught the bag and cradled it like it was his last meal. He ripped into the bag while murmuring "Food.." I laughed at his antics, watching as he ripped a big mac out of its package and took a huge bite. "Slow down there Perce, or you might eat the bag too." I sat on the bed next to him and reached in the bag to pull out a hand full of fries. He looked at me as he chewed, I threw a couple fries and my mouth with and awkward expression at his staring. After swallowing I asked "What?" He shook his head and looked back to the TV. I followed his gaze, the local news was running another piece on the 88th street guy Percy had killed. "Why do you keep watching that?" I questioned, looking back at him. I reached for the remote, but he grabbed my wrist. He swallowed his last bite of the big mac before he answered, "I'm making sure they don't have any leads." His expression was as serious as I had ever seen it. "Why?" He shook his head, "It's not important." He let go of my wrist and slumped against the wall. I thought for a moment, mulling over the words that I prepared to say. "Why did you kill him Percy?"

I dead panned, blind sided by her question. How the hell do I answer this? It was a loaded question if I ever heard one. I thought for a long time. Staring at the TV screen like the reporter with a comb over had the answer. Eventually, I just grabbed the remote and turned the it off. I looked to her, she looked at me. I looked into her eyes, her beautiful blue eyes and I answered her, "He said he would kill you. He said 'I'll make sure that bitch suffers'. I wouldn't let him hurt you.. so.. smack." I clapped my hands together for emphasis. She stared at me wide eyed, "Just to protect me?" I nodded. "I'll never let anything happen to you."

I was stunned. No one had ever said that to me before. I locked eyes with him, I felt my eyes water but I blinked back the tears. I felt cared for. Suddenly I noticed an odd thing happening, I was leaning forward, and so was he. This was it, my first kiss. I leaned my head to the side slightly we were less than an inch apart. "Oh just kiss me!" I shouted. At that moment, Nico opened the door.

To say that it was the single most awkward thing I had ever seen was an under statement. I walked through the door and stood there flabbergasted. There they were, Percy and Thalia, on a bed nearly making out. At my entrance, I broke the moment. They were both looking at me in an embarrassed faction. "Um.. Should I come back later?" Thalia turned six shades of red and Percy tried not to look me in the eye. "Um.. There's a cheeseburger and some fries for you in the bag right there." Thalia spoke shakily. I casually walked to the foot of the bed, grabbed the bag and took a good long look at them. "Thanks, I'll be back in a little bit, gonna go puke." Percy rolled his eyes, "Yeah don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out Nico!" He shouted as I left. I flipped him off before closing the door. I then headed for the picnic tables over by what was at one point a pool to eat the burger. Hell, I wouldn't be too surprised if I walked in on them in the middle of something far more embarrassing next time.

Once the door shut, I looked back to Thalia who was biting her lip. "Still up for that kiss?" I asked gingerly. She nodded sheepishly. I jumped at the opportunity, literally. I wrapped my arms around her and stared into her eyes for a few moments. She looked back at me with a slight smile, I felt her arms snake around my waist. I leaned in and brought our lips together softly. It felt amazing. Sparks flew. Her lips were so soft, I felt like I never wanted to stop kissing her. She kissed me back with fervor. I held her tightly as she did me. Suddenly she broke the kiss, just as I was about to ask why she spoke "I love you Percy. I've loved you since the first quest we went on together, but I was scared. I didn't know what I was feeling. So.. I joined the hunt to escape. And I don't care if you don't love me back but I needed to tell you. I almost broke when you saved me from the river but.. I didn't know if.." I cut her off by pulling her into another kiss, she sighed discovering that she had been rambling. Then I broke the embrace to say my peace. "I love you too Thalia. You've been here for me since I've known you. You are the best friend I've ever had. I missed you when you joined the hunt and I've thanked the Gods every day since you quit." I smiled at her, she smiled back. We kissed again. In the face of our own extinction we were making out. It was funny, yet beautiful. But you know what? I'd never been happier in my whole life.

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><p><strong>Behold the big kiss! I finally got around to writing it. Bitchin. So now is when shit starts to get serious. After this chapter things will start to get progressively more violent as we go. This is LA after all. Three will begin its activities in the hope of summoning Chaos. So, Love it? Hate it? Want to beat me with a ham sandwich for going against cannon? All of the above is fine! So review please! ~Muffin<strong>


	7. We Get A New Hideout

_Present Day_

We have to get out of LA. Now.

_Three Months and Twelve Days ago_

We were running low on money. We were down to our last thousand dollars. We had checked out of the motel and were looking for a place to hide. We walked through the slums of Los Angeles, we passed innumerable closed businesses and foreclosed homes. We didn't know what the hell we were doing. Nico suggested breaking into one of the abandoned homes and using it, but Thalia and I rejected that particular plan. We needed a place dark and desolate to hide in, preferably with running water. Then I had an idea, so we went back to the bridge over looking the river. Thalia grabbed my hand and gave a gentle squeeze. "Don't fall this time, ok?" She spoke sheepishly as she peeked over the edge of the bridge, but quickly shied away as her fear of heights shined through. I smiled at her and looked back over the side, searching for something I had seen last time we were here. Then I saw it. "There." I pointed to it. A large warehouse on a bank of the river, it had halfway collapsed into it and looked abandoned. I looked to Nico. "Think you can get us in there? Without breaking any windows." He smirked, "Sure." We turned and walked off the bridge, much to Thalia's relief, and started walking in the direction of this new hideout.

It was a lot bigger up close than it was from the bridge, it was also much further away than we thought. We came up to a chain link fence with razor wire on top. "Looks like a prison." Thalia commented. "That's the idea." I smirked, "No one will try to bust into a place that looks like an entrance to hell, which is on the other side of town." I referred to DOA Records of course, I'd had my run in with them once before. Nico looked at me with a nod of approval, "I like it, it's dark." Thalia agreed, "I can definitely see Green Day playing a show here." She nodded vigorously. I looked around us and didn't see anyone. "Nico, can you get us inside?" His smirk returned, and he stepped into the shadow of the warehouse. He placed his hand on my shoulder and off we went.

We'd shadow traveled so much in the last few days that I'd gotten used to the sensation. But, in this particular case, when we arrived, I thought we were still traveling. But after some investigation, I realized; "It's dark as shit in here." I thought about looking for a light switch, but then I remembered we were in an abandoned building. I held my hand up in front of my face, and I couldn't see it. Suddenly there was a metallic click and the sound of someone striking a match, but it ended up being Thalia holding a lighter. The flickering flame from her lighter illuminated a good deal. We were right, it was a warehouse. Mattresses, as far as the eye could see. Stacked to the ceiling in a few places even. "Wow." We echoed each other. "This place is perfect." Thalia stated the obvious. We could move the mattresses where ever we needed them and we wouldn't be sleeping on the ground anymore. "We need more light." In the dull light I looked at Nico, "See if you can't see some lights." He sighed, "Why me?" I dead panned "Because you can fucking teleport." "Oh. Right." He muttered something about me just wanting some privacy before shadow traveling off again, leaving me and Thals to our own devices.

I looked at him and he looked at me. I still held the lighter in my hand. We both stood there for a few minutes waiting for the other to make a move. We still we somewhat awkward around each other, we had only full on made out once. Ever since Nico had been all over us like white on rice. I wanted him, and this was the first opportunity we had in a while. But, ADHD made the decision for us. He broke his gaze away from me then just stared blankly, like he had a revelation. I followed his eyes, he was starring at a pile of mattresses, then it hit me too. Mattresses. Lots of them. I had always wanted to jump on a bed. So, I closed my lighter, and once our eyes adjusted, that's exactly what we did.

If you ever want to have a shit load of fun, go to an abandoned mattress warehouse and just go nuts. We pushed a few stacks over and spread them out then we climbed a stack, said and prayer and took a leap of faith. It was the most fun I've had in a long time. I got launched so high I swear I knocked my head on a light fixture. Finally after jumping on mattresses for who knows how long, Nico stepped out of the shadows with his eyes closed, "Make yourselves decent!" He shouted, the smug little fart thought that we would be screwing. "We're not naked Nico." He opened one eye a bit, "You aren't? I can't tell too dark." He held up something and a click was heard, then all of the sudden light flooded forth from what felt like the sun. "Ow! The light it burns!" Percy and I squinted into the blind light. Nico got the message and turned the beam toward the ceiling. "Ten thousand candle power spotlight, and I got six of them." Looking around, I noticed how much of the place was lit up by one, six might be a bit overkill. But I shrugged the lights were already here, so why waste them? Percy and I each took one, and set off to explore our new home.

It appeared to be a full fledged mattress warehouse, except for the fact that it had been sealed shut for god knows how long. I myself had found what I thought used to be the offices. There wasn't much left, an overturned desk in one and a filing cabinet in another. Curiosity took over me, I entered the office with the filing cabinet and tried to open it, only to find it locked. Damn my curiosity! I kicked the cabinet over and turned to exit the room, when a metallic sliding noise came to my ears. I turned around and saw the drawers had come open from the force of the fall. I crouched down and peeked inside, I found nothing. "Empty! Dang it!" I stood quickly and kicked the empty filing cabinet the left the room. I figured we could use the offices as bedrooms of sorts, but their were only two. So Percy and I would have to share one and Nico could have the other. So I went to find the boys to inform them of my discovery.

I climbed a nearby stack of mattresses and took a seat at the top looking around for signs of my friends. "Percy! Nico! Come see what I found!" Two beams of light suddenly flickered around and I heard a distant voice. "Thals! Where are you?" Percy's voiced was loud and clear. "The far wall! Near the back!" Nico suddenly appeared on the ground, "What did you find?" I decided climbing down wouldn't be much fun so I laid eyes on a pile of mattresses and leapt off my stack. I landed with a metallic crunch as the old springs broke my fall. Nico looked at me with a raised eyebrow, "Over come that fear of heights have we?" I thought about it, I guess I had. I'd been jumping off stacks of mattresses all day and hardly shuddered. Shrugging I answered "Yep. Wanna see what I found?" He rolled his eyes before nodding. I pointed toward a set of double doors behind me, "Bedrooms." He snickered, "Great. We get our own rooms, and I don't think beds will be a problem."

Thalia had found something, but so had I. I figured out why the building was abandoned. A corner of the warehouse had collapsed into the river and been left there to rot away. "That explains that.." The building had half fallen into the river, so the entire stock that was left in here, was left in here. I crouched down by the waters edge and dipped my hand into it, it was clear but not drinkable. Looking around I noticed that there was a considerable amount of rust in this area. "Gods only know how long this has been here." It was at this point that I would normally hear my dad speaking in my head, but it was eerily silent this time. I saw that the water in this pool was flowing freely, which meant the water came from the river. Doubling its uncleanliness. Sighing, I turned from the small pool and headed off to find Thalia and Nico to find out what she had discovered.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think she would have found separate rooms. I laughed in amazement, the only thing these rooms lacked were doors. I looked into the first door to find her seated upon an overturned desk with a smug grin on her face. "You look proud of yourself." She laughed, a mesmerizing sound, one I would never get tired of. "I'm quite proud of myself, I never thought I would have a roof over my head while on the run." I approached her with a wide smile, Gods I loved her. "Now all we have to do is get this desk out of here, and move a mattress in and.." She smirked at me knowingly. "Let's move fast." She hopped down off the desk and move around the back of it, I followed her example. "Ready?" I questioned. She placed her hands on the desk and I followed suit. "1..2..3.. Push!" We pushed on the large piece of metal as our ears were assaulted by the screeching sound. Luckily it fit through the door perfectly, and we just left it in the hallway. We both then went to retrieve a mattress and have some fun. No not sex you fucking perverts! At least not yet, I just wanted to jump on the bed some more.

I watched them from a stack of mattresses, flirting and having fun. They loved each other, and they knew it. I sighed heavily, I had developed a crush on Thalia when we had first met, but I wasn't stupid. I followed her eyes. I knew who she was looking at, and it wasn't me. I lowered my head and shook it, then I shadow traveled off to go for a walk. I needed to clear my head. I walked out of the shadows back over where we had first arrived in LA. I walked down the side walk against the flow of the mob. People sneered and cursed, a few reared back to punch me, but once I gave them my well rehearsed glare they shied away like a beaten dog. Pathetic. I hear thunder in the distance, Zeus must be angry about something, then I felt a raindrop. Followed closely by two more, I flicked up the hood on my jacket and ducked out of the crowd. Then the rain really started to fall, thunder clapped and rain poured. People shouted, angry about getting wet, a few raved about having just had their hair done. Really pathetic. "Their funny aren't they? So worried about their pretty little lives being spat on by the sky." I whirled around to find the source of the voice, in doing so, I saw her. The source of the voice. She was tan, short and brunette. She was leaning against a wall under an outcropping of a building, looking at me. "I was just thinking that." I replied to her statement, transfixed by her looks. She smiled and pulled her own hood up over her head before stepping out into the rain. "It's dry under there, I'd love to stay and chat. But I've got somewhere to be." The she walked by me and out into the mob. "Damn." I muttered under my breath. I went to put my hand in my jacket pocket, but there was something in there. I pulled it out, it was a scrap of paper with a note scrawled on it. It said _"My name's Alyssa, and I'm usually here everyday around right now. I can get you anything you want for the right price." _She was a criminal and crap she was hot.

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><p><strong>Longest chapter so far! Hooray! I'm sorry it took me so long to update, but I was kind of lacking motivation and time. I've noticed a good amount of complaints about my lack of POV notifications. Well, I've decided to answer this on publicly. Right now. Once I turned in a creative writing project to my English teacher with such notifications in between paragraphs like you are asking for. You know what he did? He failed me. He said that he wouldn't even read my writing because of those marks. So I will not be including them. Not now or ever. Don't even tell me that they are in my earlier work, because I know they are. That was before my teacher failed me. I felt I needed to say this so people would understand and maybe stop complaining. I don't know. I don't care if you flame because of this little author's note, whatever. You'd just be wasting your own time. <strong>

**Now that I'm done ranting. Please review. Reviews are the only reason I didn't leave this story at chapter one. ~Muffin**


	8. We Rob A Head Shop

_Present Day_

We hid where they would never look.

_Two Months and Thirty Days ago_

You would be surprised how far a thousand dollars will go, or rather, how far it won't. I know what you're thinking, why not just steal everything you need? Well, it's rather hard to steal from McDonald's. Plus, we weren't exactly born thieves, so it felt good to actually pay for something once in a while. So we bought blankets and pillows for the two mattresses we had. King size. Three hundred dollars. And I had decided to take Thalia out for some fun. Two hundred dollars. Nico bought and smoked a dime bag of weed. One hundred fifty. So with three hundred fifty dollars to our names, Nico decided it was time to plan a job. All we needed was a target.

We figured we were a little too small time for a bank, so we decided to step up from a mugging to a hold up. But, it isn't very easy to rob a place with one gun. This was Nico's time to shine, he said he had met someone in one of his many walks who could get us what we needed. So, we gave him the last of our Gayford money, and sent him off to get two more pistols. Easy enough.

"Here you go Nico." Percy handed me a wad of bills of various denominations. Thalia didn't know about this, as she was still asleep, but she was also the only one of the three of us who had a gun. So this wasn't a purchase for her anyway. "Just get a couple of Barretas, or Glocks. Nothing fancy." I nodded seriously, "So we don't attract too much attention right?" He nodded. "We can get fancier things when we have more dough." I sighed, looking down at the money "I hope this is enough." Percy didn't say anything, he just turned around and went back toward his and Thalia's bedroom. "Make it work Nico!" he shouted before he slipped behind the stack that hid the entrance to the old offices. I closed my eyes and focused on the Alley where I had met her.

I stepped out of the shadows across the street from her alleyway. The mob was significantly smaller today. I could see right across the street into her alley. There she was leaning against the same doorway that she had been the day before. I came to visit her almost everyday now. I cut through the mob on my side of the street before crossing it, there was no real vehicle traffic on this side of town at this time of day. Mostly because all the cars were parked as their owners walked the last block or two to work. The mob was almost non-existent on the other side of the street. She saw me coming. "If it isn't my favorite window shopper!" She shouted at me as I strolled into the alley. "Hey Alyssa. Good to see you too." She snickered, having her arms crossed as always, "Well I see you every damn day and you never buy anything so.." She trailed off, the answer was obvious. "I'm here for business this time. My name is Nick by the way." I stated seriously, then suddenly she switched modes. "Well Nick, what can I get you?" I stepped under the overhang she stood under. "Handguns." She raised and eyebrow and uncrossed her arms, allowing them to fall, hanging by her side. "You sure?" I nodded, so did she. She placed three sharp knocks on the door behind her and stepped away before it popped open. "Follow me."

She walked through the door almost immediately after it opened, and I followed her into what seemed to be complete darkness. For anyone else anyway, Son of Hades here. I felt something was off. There were more people here than just me and her. Two of them were standing on either side of the door staring holes in the back of my head. Then the lights kicked on, and I turned around to find that I was right. There was a skinny junkie slumped on the floor and a gang kid leaning against the wall next to the door. He shot me a glare until I looked away. "Nick. Follow me." Alyssa called out, directing my attention back to her. So I followed. She lead me through hallway after hallway, past doors and covered windows. Eventually she stopped at one door with a white X painted onto it. "Nick, Once you enter this room.. I can't let you leave without buying something. How do I know you're not a nark?" She seemed genuinely scared. I had to tell her something to convince her that I wasn't going to snitch. "You know about that bombing that happened in New York?" She nodded. "My name is Nico Diangelo."

Her eyes widened in shock, "There now we both have something on each other. Now if you please, show me what you have." Slowly she opened the door to reveal a room full of opaque storage containers, all with different numbers on them. "Handguns are in containers 6 through 10. 6 being cheapest." I enter the room and she followed, probably to make sure I didn't steal any merchandise. I made my way over to the lower number containers. I decided to not go for bottom of the barrel or most expensive so I opened container 7 and 8. "Did you do it?" She stood directly behind me looking at me with the same frightened expression from earlier. I didn't even look up, "No." I heard her sigh, I turned to look at her. "I've got no idea how much any of these are so I'll just say it. I need two guns and I only have three hundred fifty bucks." She chuckled, "Only? That's a buck seventy five a piece, you might as well close number 8 there." She pointed to it, as the previous subject was apparently dropped. "Just take those two off the top in bin 7. Should fit your budget nicely with some room for ammo, which is extra." I shot her a sideways glance, this shit was a racket. She simply smirked at me, she knew she was making money. I looked at the guns on top of the bin. They weren't Berretas or Glocks. One was a Taurus and the other had was an old Sig, but they were pistols so they would have to do.. "How much?" She smiled at me, "Normally, these run two hundred a piece, but I'm willing to knock of fifty a piece. We get em' for free anyway." That leaves me with fifty bucks. Peachy. "I'll take them, and fifty dollars worth of clips." She nodded. "They're yours. Fifty bucks gets you three mags each." I nodded, reaching into the container to examine my purchase.

About an hour later I walked back out of the shadows at the warehouse with a backpack that Alyssa gave me to carry my purchases in. I appeared by the pool at the back of the warehouse on purpose, hoping that neither of my friends would be using it at the time. Thankfully it was empty, the only sound in the area was the sound of the water lapping against aging metal. So I started on my walk through the paths we had made with the mattresses, this particular one lead to the offices, or bedrooms.

When the Goth is away the kids will play. That's how the saying goes, but we didn't do much playing. Actually as soon as Nico left, I just went to bed; but I had another dream.

_Dreamscape_

I saw a world in darkness, from the view of angels. I looked down upon majors cities as they burned. Riots filled the streets, and death had become the norm. Chaos. That is when I saw him. My point of view changed, I fell from the heavens and stood at street level in Chicago. There he was, Chaos. He was looking right at me. He looked just like any other god except for the fact that he had a shaved head. His eyes were white, there were no pupils. He wore a simple black suit with a red tie. He just looked at me. He said nothing. I said nothing. Silence. He held his arms behind his back and tilted his head to the side as if considering whether or not to smite my ass. "You are wise Percy Jackson." When he spoke it felt as though his voice was all around me, an enveloping sound. I was about to ask why he said that when he answered. "You seek to destroy the most powerful beings on earth. You are wise to seek the help of the creator of the universe, but also foolish. I could easily betray your plan and location to the Gods." I suddenly felt fear, I realized that he could destroy me just as easily as he could spit. But, then why hasn't he? If he was going to destroy me, or betray me, he would have done so already. He wouldn't have wasted his time telling me so. He read my thoughts. "You are smarter than your friends gave you credit for." I didn't think about my next sentence, I just said it. "Will you help us?" He walked towards me, "The fact that I am speaking to you in the first place should tell you something." He smirked. "All you have to do, is exactly what you already planned to do. I cannot appear to appear where there is not enough chaos. A large riot would probably suffice. Now I think you should wake up, because your girlfriend is going ballistic."

_Exit Dreamscape_

I woke up with a start, breathing heavily. I looked next to me in the bed and found Thalia to be gone. Then I heard shouting in the distance, though I could tell from the echo that they were still in the warehouse. I got out of the bed and yawned widely, I have never changed clothes before falling asleep earlier. So I just followed my ears. "..did not buy more guns with the last of our money!" I heard Thalia screaming at him. I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, "Thals, calm down." She stilled at my touch, basically melting in my arms. "Percy, did you give Nico the last of our money to buy more guns?" She spat with venom, I could tell she was angry, but I wasn't going to let her stew about it. "We need money Thals. This is how we get it." She sighed but nodded, Nico stood by with a back pack slung over one shoulder. "Nico, What'd you get?" He slid the pack off his shoulders an crouched down in the low light, the spot lights were in our rooms, so we were using small flash lights to find our way. He unzipped the bag and reached inside to pull out its contents and lay them on the floor. "The Glocks and Berettas were too expensive. So I got a Taurus and an old Sig, cheap, but they work." I raised an eyebrow at him. "How do you know they work?" He didn't say anything, he grabbed the Savage off the ground and dug around in bag. He found what he was looking for and I heard a metallic snap, then that famous click-clack. Then I heard a sound louder than thunder next to my head, accompanied by a flash. "Oh what the fuck!" I heard Thalia shout holding her ears just like I was. Nico just laughed, he placed the Savage back on the ground then picked up the Taurus. "Wait stop! I'll take your word for it." I spoke out of pain, not wanting further damage to my ears. Nico nodded and handed the gun to me. "This one is yours. I've got three clips for it in my bag here." He patted the back pack for emphasis. Thalia looked at the both of us and shook her head, "You're both fucking nuts, but now that we have the means. We might as well do the job. Nico, what's a small target that won't attract much attention?" He smirked. "I have one in mind."

"Really? We're going to rob a head shop?" I was honestly stunned. We stood on the sidewalk across the street looking at the place. Neon in every blacked out window, there was an ad on the door for a vaporizer that looked like it had been there since the discovery of marijuana. Thalia had thought ahead and swiped three black bandanas for us to use as masks. We each had our guns tucked in our waistbands, with bandanas around our faces. We looked like gang bangers. This was our first real robbery. I looked at my friends and they looked at me. This was real. The flow of people on the side walk was thin because of the late hour, the same went for the traffic. I walked toward the store, with Nico and Thalia on my heels. We crossed the street with no problems and soon we stood at the front door. I opened it, and pulled my gun.

It happened so fast. One second I was standing on the side walk watching Percy push the door open, the next second I had my gun in my hand watching the door. We had picked a bad time. The store was crowded. Six people in line at the register with another eight browsing. Nico addressed the customers. He had taken a paper bag from behind the counter and had them all put their wallets inside. Percy did a similar thing for the employees and the cash registers. No one tried to be a hero. We were in and out in three minutes. We said nothing. Each of us knew what to do. Once we had collected everything we could, we were out the door again and none of the people on the side walk were the wiser. We ran for the nearest shadows and just like that we were gone without a trace.

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><p><strong>I don't really have much to say, a lot happened in this chapter. Review please. ~Muffin<strong>


	9. We Are On Our Own

_Present Day_

Begging isn't as fun as it looks, and it doesn't look fun to start with.

_Two Months Twenty Eight Days Ago_

Easy money. The head shop robbery had netted around five grand. Not as much as we had gotten from the drug dealer, but it would do. It bought us a small electric generator, not much but enough to power a TV we had also purchased. We got it from good will, an old tube tv that was heavy as hell but cheap. We turned on the news as soon as we got the generator running. Nothing that pertained to us was on for a good bit but then; _In local news, a local head shop known to many as "Hendrix's" was robbed yesterday. Police say that three masked gunman entered the store, one took the wallets and jewels of the customers, while another broke open the cash register. The third person was a look out. We reached out to the people whom were robbed, but none could be reached for comment. _Liars, Nico didn't take a single jewel.

We sat there in Nico's room counting the money for the umpteenth time, "Five thousand two hundred and fifty five, five thousand two hundred fifty six. There, that's it. Five and a quarter grand." Nico reported after counting the ones for the fifth time. After he spoke we sat in silence for a while, just staring at the pile of money in front of us. I couldn't help but think, 'We need more.' I looked to Nico. "Can your contact get us some body armor? Maybe some bigger guns." Nico raised his eyebrow looking at me puzzled. "Yeah, why?" I smirked, "Chaos appeared to me in a dream the other day. He said that we are right. We need to stir up a shit load of trouble for him to show. I think it's time we make a name for ourselves in this city."

_Meanwhile On Olympus_

The three most powerful beings in the universe sat up their throne atop Mount Olympus. The discussed meager issues, like where Zeus would vacation this year, or whether Nico would ever get laid. They acted as most brothers do, sitting around doing nothing. They were having fun for the first time in a millennium. When suddenly a brillant flash of blinding light shook the brothers from their peace, the other eleven Gods blasted into existence on their various thrones. Each with a separate look of anger written upon their faces, one in particular. Hera. She stood from her throne and made her way to the center of the council chamber. All was silent for a few moments. The big three sat upon their thrones with curious expressions, as Hera began to speak. "My Lords," She bowed respectfully, but her expression didn't change. She rose back up to met her husband's eyes, "Did you assist half-bloods in escaping their demise? Were you not here united with us when we each destroyed our spawn? The Greek half-bloods had become too powerful, they would have overthrown us left to their own devices. You three know what must be done." Hera had a shit eating grin slapped on her face as she finished her claim. She knew the three of them would surrender, she knew they wouldn't die for their pathetic off-spring. "You must each focus upon them, and take their lives away."

The three of them didn't speak, they hadn't spoken since their talk had been interrupted earlier. Hera's speech, no Hera's threat, was cause for a great deal of rage on their part. Zeus spoke up, "Hera, you are my wife, you have been for thousands of years. But you are telling me, to kill my daughter. Not just to kill her, to smite her. You want me to take her life, in a way that she could never fight back. You want me to be a coward. So, I think I can speak my brothers and I, in saying, Go fuck yourself. I will never harm my daughter." Poseidon chimed in, "Or my son." "Or mine" Hades added. Hera was astounded, she hadn't expected such a reaction, and judging from their faces, neither had the other Gods. "Why risk it Father? Why are they so important to you!" Athena shouted at Zeus from her throne. The king of the gods looked saddened at the outburst, he looked to her and spoke, "Because it would be like asking me to kill you." Athena eyes widened, before she fell silent. Hera however, was just getting started, "You dare defy me!" She shouted, enraged. "Kill them!" Ares, Hermes and Apollo jumped at the opportunity to slay them. A new sin coursed through them, Greed.

_Back With The Three_

All of the sudden, I felt like I had been stabbed in the gut. Not that kind of "ow I feel like someone is stabbing me" I mean I really felt like someone was stabbing me in the gut. A pain I hadn't before know, Achilles helped with that. My face contorted into a look of pure agony, as I screamed out a cry of anguish. Thalia and Nico were stunned by this out burst until Nico started clutching his throat and gagging. The only one of us whom was not freaking out at this point stared at the both of us in shock, but then she grew very still and a far away look came into her eyes.

I felt like someone grabbed onto my mind and pulled it from my body, then all of the sudden, I was on Mount Olympus. I was looking through my father's eyes. He was staring at Hades, whom was staring up at the ceiling with glazed over eyes. Golden ichor poured from his a slit in his throat. Poseidon was in a similar situation, he had a spear sticking out of his stomach, but he still appeared to be alive. More or less. My father was in the fight of his life, casting bolt after bolt of lightning at Ares and Apollo whom where attacking him. Suddenly my father stopped moving, his hands move to clutch at his chest. He looked down to see a dagger sticking out of him, ichor seeping through his clothing. Dad looked up and stared out at his fellow Gods. I felt the blade being twisted, I heard my father cry out in pain. Then the blade was forced down, slicing through his flesh. He continued to scream. Then the blade was ripped out, my father fell to his knees, looking to his brothers, Poseidon was still alive. Hades ichor had turned red. The lord of the dead, had met his fate. I heard Zeus gasp for each breath. He was trapped on his knees. Ares, Apollo and Hermes looked down at him, with evil looks on their faces. The they looked up their mouths moved, then they stepped aside. Hera walked between them and stood over Dad. She laughed maliciously then drew a dagger, "You should have listened to me." She leaned forward and pressed the edge of the blade against my father's neck, and slid it across. I felt his hands move from his chest to his throat, he struggled for a few moments. But then, his arms went limp and he fell forward, falling to the floor with a wet thud. He no longer bled ichor, blood now poured from his veins. My father died, looking at his brother Poseidon, whom still held on by a thread. The last thing I could make out was Hera, "Dispose of the bodies, To the victor go the spoils."

Suddenly I was thrown back into my body. I was on the floor, looking at Percy. Nico lay between us. Exactly as it had been on Olympus. Then all at once I breathed in sharply as my mind came to grips with the fact that I wasn't dead. That my father was. The Big Three were no more. Percy was the next to awaken, followed by Nico. None of us moved, we just looked at each other. My gaze shot between Percy and Nico. We all had the same expression. The Gods had taken our friends, and now they had taken our fathers. I sat up, so did Nico. Percy came over and sat next to me, he grabbed my hand and held it tightly. We were truly on our own now.

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><p><strong>So I took a little bit of a couple peoples ideas and made them my own. TA-DA the result. Just to clarify, this is a tragedy story. So character death is to be expected. Any more ideas anyone might have are still welcomed. ~Muffin<strong>


	10. The Faces We'll Never See Again

_Two Months and Eighteen Days ago_

We were really fucked at this point. The head shop money was almost gone, and as far as we knew, the only gods who were still on our side were dead. Life sucked at the moment. So we laid low. We were trying as hard as humanly possible to not think about how screwed we were. Thalia and Nico didn't leave their rooms much. Thalia loved using my shoulder as a handkerchief. The only thing that kept me from being in a similar way, was the single fact that I didn't know for sure. I felt like something had happened, I didn't think my father was dead. Something in my gut wouldn't let me accept that. I felt naïve. Thalia had told me she'd seen Poseidon be stabbed in her vision. I believed her, but for pity's sake he was a God! Hades and Zeus had to be sliced open and have their throats cut to die. I refused to accept the reality. But really, I didn't want to believe that my dad was dead. Hell, I wasn't even sure Gods could die.

I sat by the edge of the river outside the warehouse one day just watching the dirty water roll by. I felt hopeless. Then, I felt I presence behind me. Suddenly my heart leaped in my chest, I thought it was my dad. But, when I turned around Thalia was there walking up to me. I managed a soft smile, a smile she returned. She came up and sat next to me, she grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. After everything we still had each other at least. I let go of her hand and put my arm around her shoulder, tugging her close to me. She laid her head on my shoulder. I looked back out over the river. "I miss my bow." She commented with a sigh, "I don't really like guns. They're too damn loud." She would think as much, coming from the girl who was Artemis' lieutenant. She could probably shoot a fly with an arrow across this river. Then I had an idea, a perfect distraction from our current predicament. "What if I got you a new one?" She lifted her head off me and smiled, "I'd like that." So, together we hatched a plan, a plan to acquire a bow that harmed both sides of the mythical wall.

Eventually we decided on getting a crossbow instead of a normal bow, as a crossbow of the same power is considerably smaller than a normal bow. The only issue we had was finding someone who could supply us with a crossbow with the proper enchantments. We had lost almost all our contacts in the other world since the destruction of Camp. I even considered attempting to find the Roman camp, an idea I quickly abandoned, since all I knew was it existed. But I didn't know where. Soon however Nico noticed that we were not in our room anymore. He wandered outside searching for us. It didn't take him long to find the two of us seated by the edge of the water. He came up to stand behind us, I filled him in on Thalia's hate of our current arms. "We're thinking a crossbow might do. Know anywhere we can get one?" Nico thought for a few moments before snapping, "My contact can probably get us one.." I interrupted his thought. "One that can kill both monsters and mortals?" At that, he became quiet. "No harm in finding out." I looked up from the river for the first time since coming down to it. Nico had a thoughtful look on his face, I was instantly curious. "I think it's time Thalia and I met this contact of yours." Nico nodded. "I agree."

So a few hours later, we strolled into the alley where the son of Hades had spent countless hours. I had come up with an idea for a test of sorts, Riptide had been in my pocket throughout all of our exploits but I had never bothered to bring it out because it couldn't hurt mortals. Thus the test. But there was a slight issue, if this Alyssa person Nico was so fond of was indeed a demigod; Chances were good that she was a Roman. Romans and Greeks don't mix too well. Worth a shot though. So on our arrival at the alley, I reached into my pocket and grabbed the pen. Did I mention that I didn't bother to tell Nico about my test? The girl was standing exactly where he said she would be. She didn't seem to be expecting to see more than just Nico. "Who are your friends Nico?" She raised an eyebrow and moved one of her hands behind her back. I clicked my pen.

So suddenly and without warning Percy had got the idea in his head to bring out Riptide. Which, in retrospect, was not that bad an idea, but at the time. Not so much. My eyes shot between him, the sword and Alyssa. She was sporting a raised eyebrow with the same old expression she's always had. "Nice sword demigod." Our question was answered. She turned to look at me with a slight smirk, "Some how I always knew.." She commented. She raised her arm to grasp her right sleeve, she pulled the fabric up her arm to reveal the mark of the legion. She was a Roman. Fuck. Percy spoke up before I had the chance, "We would like to do some business." She chuckled as she rolled down her sleeve, "What kind of business?" In the back of my mind the thought occurred to me that we only had drachma, not Roman currency. Percy of course, didn't think of this.

"The weaponized kind, my friend here would like to see about acquiring a crossbow. One that works both ways, if you catch my drift." Percy just didn't know when to quit. "Well.." Alyssa began, "That's a whole different market there. Black market demigod armaments makes guns look like child's play." She leaned back against the door and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't like how forward Percy was being. I looked to Thalia for some support, but she was looking at me with the same expression. Mega fuck. I stepped in front of Percy, literally, to get him to shut the hell up and so I could speak, "Aly, we need some help here. My friend Thalia here is well.." I stepped close and whispered in her ear, "Afraid of guns." Returning to a normal tone I stepped back in time to see her nod. "Alright demigods, one crossbow. It will take a few days since this isn't exactly a normal order. It will cost you at least 25 denarii..." She assumed we were Romans. Perfect. This might actually work out for a change. Only one problem, we were not Romans, and I didn't know if we even had any drachma.

Once we left Alyssa, we had to figure out some way to come up with 25 denarii. Unfortunately in this day and age, its not as easy as knocking over a 7 Eleven. So we were left with scant few options, most of which involved robbing people. We were not going to rob Alyssa, that much was certain, but who else was there? We didn't have many choices, and the pickings weren't great among them. Thalia, Nico and I headed back to the warehouse, we had a few days till the crossbow arrived so we had time. We just didn't have anything to do, but brainstorm. I sat atop one of the many piles of mattresses in the warehouse looking through what used to be windows towards the river. I had always felt safer near the water. Obvious reasons apply, but it always seemed like that was the only place where I could connect with my dad. He only contacted me when there was desperate need. The last time I heard from him was that day a nearly two months ago. Then a thought hit me, a memory. A photo album. I leapt from the tower of mattresses and bounced off a generous pile on the ground. I then made my way to mine and Thalia's bed room. I knew it was in there, it had to be. Annabeth's photo album, she had given it to me for some occasion I didn't remember at the time. I tore through my pack, I couldn't find it.

"Percy.." A soft voice broke the silence from across the room. I froze in place, and slowly turned round. There she lay, Thalia Grace, on our shared bed cradling the very thing I was looking for, like it was her child. "Looking for this?" she commented gently, a small smile on her face. I rose from my crouched position on the floor and went over to sit on the edge of the bed. It was turned to a particular page, the back cover to be exact, a note was scrawled in near perfect handwriting. _"Never forget me Percy, in all that you will go on to do. Love, Annabeth." _I felt tears come to my eyes, I looked up to Thalia, she looked similar. Now I remembered the occasion, it had been our six month anniversary. Grief swept my mind, I didn't quite comprehend why. I had spent numerous hours crying over her, but then it hit me. Our six month anniversary, was a year ago this month. We had broken up on bad terms, and never really gotten to be friends again. That was nine months ago. I had forgotten she had written that in there. I had forgotten her. I couldn't remember the sound of her voice. I had forgotten. I felt tears roll down my face. Thalia was crying also, she pulled me into a hug and sobbed into my hoodie. I let the tear flow, albeit silently. I missed my friends. I missed Annabeth.

_Flashback, Nine months ago_

I felt as though my heart had been torn out. I focus on the pain. It reminds me that I'm still alive. I sob and scream and clutch onto the bed sheets. My cabin mates knew what was going on, they were concerned. I didn't care. My best friend didn't love me anymore. I screamed so loud I knew he could hear. The noise from that cabin was considerably quieter, since there wasn't any. No one had seen him since our fight. It had started over something simple, Percy forgetting to brush his teeth, but it had evolved in a vicious hateful battle. We shouted at each other. We screamed. People stopped to watch. I hate yous were exchanged, he claimed we were just going through the motions, not really going anywhere. Then I said it, "Maybe we should just break up!" I regretted that sentence the moment it left my mouth. I remember my hands covering my mouth, I was beside myself. The look of hurt, and betrayal on his face said it all. The look didn't linger long though, moments later a look of fury overtook his features. He was shaking, then he snapped. "Fuck you Annabeth Chase! I don't know how I dealt with you for so long! We're fucking done!" He shouted so loud people in the big house probably heard. I was shocked. My mouth moved, but no words came out. He stormed off, people clear far out of his way. That was the last time people saw him. I didn't do much after that. I went back to my cabin and cried.

_End Flashback_

That was the last time Annabeth and I spoke. We never exchanged words again, I don't think we even made eye contact. Now I would never have a chance again. She was in the afterlife. I held onto Thalia for dear life, she returned my embrace. I didn't feel alone for the first time in a long while. I wiped my eyes and pulled back, looking down at her with a soft smile. She looked back up at me, searching my face with her piercing blue eyes. "I love you Percy Jackson." She said with a smile. "I love you Thalia Grace." I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers. For a moment it seemed the world stopped, there was nothing but me and her. Nothing else mattered, for a moment, no one was trying to kill us, we weren't afraid. For a moment, we were free. Soaring high above the clouds, we were with the gods. Then the moment ended, we parted. The feeling was gone. Our arms still held us together, but something was missing. Contact. Our eyes locked, our lips reunited.

I knew they had been together. It wasn't exactly a secret. They had been inseparable the first few months, then they started arguing. It didn't happen often for a while, but then it was every day something was a miss. Their fights became like a sporting event for some people. The Stolls even took bets on who would win at one point. Bets which I am ashamed to say Nico and I took. Then they broke up, and everyone was shocked. Which in retrospect, is a little surprising given that bets were taken. Annabeth wouldn't stop screaming til her voice went hoarse and Percy disappeared for a while. I was staying in a hotel in SoHo for a few days, so I didn't exactly hear about it til later, when he appeared at my door. He looked like he had run the New York marathon, been hit by a train, mugged, mauled by a bear and puked on. Suffice to say he looked like shit. He stumbled into me like he was about to collapse. Needless to say, I was stunned. Even more so since I was there on Hunter business, and being the lieutenant it was bad practice for me to be seen with a boy. But I didn't care. I didn't know why he was here or why he looked like he did. I didn't even know about him and Annabeth breaking up yet. But I was about to be informed, he looked me in the eye and that was when I noticed his eyes were blood shot and his face was tear stained. "We broke up." He said in a manner so fragile I didn't know what to think. I had never heard him speak like that or look like he did. "Come on inside." I remember saying. He stayed with me until just before I checked out of the hotel a few days later. So he could avoid the awkward situation of him and me coming out of the same room, greeted by a large group of immortal virgins.

While Percy and Thalia were back at the warehouse doing whatever they were doing, I was out doing other things. Alyssa was occupied with finding us that crossbow, so she wasn't available. I had my headphones jammed in my ears iPod set on shuffle. I had thousands of songs on that thing so anything could play at anytime. A particular song came on, Far From Home by Five Finger Death Punch. A song I had heard maybe once in my life. But this song struck me like lightning. By the time the line "The faces of people I'll never see again" was screamed at me I had collapsed into a ball in an alleyway. When the song ended I dug my iPod out of my pocket and replayed it. Once, twice, three times, I sat there in that alley for close to an hour listening to the same song. It was getting close to eight o'clock. I decided to head back, and to walk there instead of shadow traveling like I would normally. It gave me time to collect my thoughts, and listen to the song some more.

Thalia and I had fallen asleep soon after our make out session ended, the photo album had been forgotten between us and ended up on the floor. Nico got back some time later and walked by our room just as I was starting to wake up. He stopped in the doorway and looked in at us and shook his head. I yawned and rubbed my eyes, nearly oblivious to his presence. "What?" I asked sleepily, he sighed and started to say the word nothing, but something caught his eye. "Whats that on the floor?" he questioned in a curious manner. In my half awake state of mind I had no idea what he was talking about, but something in the back of my mind said Annabeth. Then my brain kicked on and I opened my eyes, before looking down to the white book on the floor. "It's a photo album Annabeth gave me." Instantly he was upon it, he opened the book and flipped through page after page of pain. He muttered "The faces of people I'll never see again." Thalia, awoken by my stirring and us talking sat up and followed my line of sight. The picture on the page was one of all of us, Grover, Clarrise, Annabeth, Nico, Thalia, me, Chiron, Juniper. Everyone. The whole camp, we were in the middle of down town Manhattan, so the picture must have been taken soon after we had defeated Kronos. We just sat there, the three of us, looking over those old photos. We laughed at a few, shed some tears at others.

_Meanwhile_

A giants flaming star was visible through numerous layers of UV proof polyurethane, a large horse shoe shaped room was behind the massive window. A large yet sparsely furnished room, nothing but a large glowing sphere and a throne with a lone figure seated upon it. The creator of the universe watched the three heroes, he saw something interesting in them. He saw mercy, compassion, regret. Aboard his purgatory class warship, the Donec Pretium, he observed them on what mortals would call a big ass crystal ball. A device he called the lucis visus, it allowed him to see anyone at anytime. It served as a great way to keep an eye on his creation. The fact that his attention was focused on them in the first place was a great honor alone. The god preferred to use Latin instead of Greek, although he wasn't sure why. "Alyssa." He called from his seated position, the girl whom the Nico had known for months stepped out of the shadows behind him and bowed respectfully. "Lord Chaos, are you satisfied with their progress?" The god said nothing he simply sighed before standing from his chair. Compared to how he looked to Percy in his dream, this form was far from frightening. He wore a white dress suits with a black tie, though he had long white hair instead of a bald head. His eyes, however, remained frightfully pale, white, and empty. He turned to face her with a bemused expression, "Rise, captain Holt. I am quite satisfied, indeed." Alyssa arouse from her bowed position and looked to her lord. "Thank you Lord Chaos." The god strolled around to the back of his throne, his hands behind his back. "I must admit miss Holt, I was surprised when you volunteered for this assignment. Being a daughter of Nyx, I am amazed that the monsters of the mortal world were not swarming you the moment you arrived." She smirked, "A little distraction helps, the foolish Romans think I am but a daughter of Nike." The god laughed heartily, he shook his head with the same amused expression. "Foolish mortals. The know not what sits right in front of them. Is the Morsus ready for launch yet? Long have I awaited an Inferno class vessel." Alyssa responded quickly, "The Morsus ran into some difficulties, it's progress has been delayed significantly." Chaos didn't seem concerned, "Very well. That is all Alyssa, return to your post on earth." The god of the void returned to his previous position seated upon the throne, looking out across the vast surface of the gas giant. Alyssa bowed once more before turning on her heel and exiting the throne room.

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><p><strong>Behold. Chapter 10. Updates will hopefully be coming in a quicker fashion in the future as my thoughts sort of pool together. Reviews speed up my words per minute. ~Muffin<strong>


	11. God Of The LA River

_Two Months and Ten Days ago_

The Donec Pretium orbited above a planet known to humanity as Gliese 581g. A planet that space faring races called, Vulcia. The official home base of Lord Chaos. Half the planet was set as Chaos' land, the other half was given to whoever wanted a piece. The population rose from zero to four billion in just six short centuries. Things worked well for a while, until the Numbare cartel set up shop. They took a quarter of the planet as their territory. Leaving only a small portion for the rest of the universe. A portion that quickly turned to a slum, a den of crime where the Numbare were judge, jury and executioner. A portion that Chaos ignored. A place called Aliquam Paradiso. It was a melting pot where every race that ever existed combined. Hybrids and genetic splicing began to occur. Yet the atrocities were ignored by the higher authorities for millennium. Extreme crimes were still punished, but to qualify for extreme you had to kill a Numbare member. Public executions were common. The forces of Chaos, the only ones capable of ending the anarchy that ruled the streets, never stepped out from behind the walls of his fortress. Sure few soldiers left every so often, but only to check on the few interests that the army had on the other side of the wall. Like it or not, there was a lot of money to be made in Aliquam Paradiso. Several of the higher ups in the army owned property in the slums. A good test for new recruits was to send them over the wall and into the slum, to check on various things. A test that took nearly one earth week. It really separated the men from the boys. On more than on occasion a recruit had stepped on a Numbare toe and had their head chopped off. Although once in a while, a higher up would volunteer to go into Aliquam Paradiso. And at the moment, that was exactly where Alyssa Holt was.

Being out of the compound isn't something that happens often, but to acquire a crossbow that worked on both mortals and monsters. It was a request so odd, so uncommon, that I had to venture into Aliquam Paradiso. A venture I do not take lightly. One slip up, one mistake, and the Numbare will take you and execute you in a various violent fashions. Technically I was here to check on Commander Stryker's property, but I was really here to visit an old friend of mine. An exile from the army, a Numbare warlord named Franklin. He wasn't human, but he wasn't alien either. He was a hybrid, between human and another race. His human side was more dominate but from the fact that he had pitch black skin and snow white hair added to the fact that he wasn't normal. He had been kicked out of the army after 'accidentally' blowing up Chaos' previous warship. The Donec Pretium, while one of the largest vessels in space, is only temporary until the Morsus is complete. Fortunately for him, the Numbare noticed his mishap, and gave him a place to run to, along with a rank and a good bit of power. He was one of my best friends while he was in the forces, but now he is a good guy to know if you need to get something that isn't exactly legal.

While in Aliquam Paradiso, it isn't a good idea to look weak, but it is a worse idea to attract attention. The Numbare will kill anyone who takes the respect off them. The only thing that is a good idea, is to look like a soldier of Chaos. I am a captain in the legion of Chaos. I wore my combat fatigues with an Infernux whip on my belt. I wasn't bothered. Franklin had agreed to meet me, but he didn't know the reason. He was curious as to why I wanted to meet in Aliquam instead of the Numbare region of the planet. The reason was simple, I needed something from the warlord. Something that a presumptuous guard looking to get ahead would find useful. I needed the guards distracted with security. A Numbare warlord traveled with a large entourage, mostly guards, normally few concubines and assorted other members of the cartel went along as well. Why would the guards snitch on a warlord you ask? Even the Numbare have rules. Rule number one, never sell merchandise that could hurt the group to anyone outside the group. Who sells the merchandise? Warlords. That rule only applied to those on Vulcia however, any off worlders who wanted a cooporium warhead, they got it. As long as they could pay. I needed a crossbow for a certain daughter of Zeus on a planet very far away. The problem was I was on Vulcia, which broke the rule. Making my life that much more difficult.

Franklin D'Vanii had a particular bar that he liked to inhabit when he had to venture into the slums, a place that didn't have a name. It was just a door that lead into a hallway with the cliché metal door with an eye slot about three quarters of the way up. If you got past the door you ended up in what would pass for a rave back on earth. But on Vulcia it was a bar. Franklin didn't stay in plain sight though. He was always in one back room surrounded by guards and concubines. He took to his life of crime like a bird to flying. Today was a good day to be in this bar, it was packed. Getting past the front door is easy, its getting to the back rooms that is the hard part. A mass of pulsating bodies filled the room, a DJ at the far end of the room was keeping them all happy. The bass from his speakers made my hat shake on my head. A soldier of Chaos normally attracts a lot of attention, but not here. Here I would be lucky to get a second look. Here is where the Numbare made the bulk of their money. Drugs. There probably wasn't a single person in the whole room, besides me, who wasn't rolling on one thing or another. And I had to get through all that.

Through a series of events that involved me shouting 'Captain of Chaos, Clear a path!' I made it to the other side of the room. Where four guards outside the door gave me a weird look. One in particular, whom looked strangely like a giant bulldog, raised an eyebrow at me. "What's a Chaos bitch doing down in Aliquam?" I shot him my favorite death glare and he crumbled like a pile of dirt. "I'm here to see Franklin D'Vanii, any of you have a problem with that?" They all looked at me like they wanted to tear my head off, but they had known Franklin was having a visitor. It wasn't advertised who was in the back rooms, so the fact that I knew he was there was a plus. The one standing to the left of the door nodded and made some unintelligible clicking and clacking noises before opening the door.

Franklin was seated upon a very large couch with a Numbare concubine on either side, they were both naked as the day they were born. They stared at him like he was the greatest thing ever. At least fifteen armed guards were behind the couch, sitting at tables, watching tv, doing various things of that nature. Each was clearly armed but they also had other weapons laying around. Franklin had his face buried in the bustier of the two concubines chest, they were laughing, his guards weren't paying attention. I rolled my eyes. "Franklin!" He about jumped out of his skin, "Fuck! Alyssa, don't fucking scare me like that!" He had a heavy french accent so that sounded pretty funny. I smirked, I never get tired of scaring him. "Get your whores outta here Frankie, just breathing the same air makes me feel sick." He frowned but he ushered the girls off the couch to go be with the guards. I went to sit on the couch nearby, but not in the same place as those whores. The fact that there appeared to be stains in those spots added to my reasons. Franklin sighed before slumping back into his chair. "So what is so important to talk about that you needed me to come all the way down to Aliquam?" Now we were finally getting down to business, "I need a favor." He groaned and leaned back into the couch, falling behind some cushions in the process. "Just once, I wonder if you will contact me because you miss me." His voice was muffled by a cushion, I chuckled light heartedly, "Frankie, I saved your ass more times than I can count. Now that you've got some pull around Vulcia, I can finally start cashing in those favors." Franklin muttered something unintelligible under his breath and waved his hand as if to say, _'Go on'_.

An hour later, I was the proud owner of a new crossbow with a thousand pound pull, but it easy to draw back the string thanks to some weird enchantment Franklin didn't fully explain. It came with some specialty bolts and a few features that I wasn't going to tell the three about, not for a while at least, all for a grand total of fifty thousand credits. Equivalent to about fifty denarii. Franklin shook his head after I handed over the funds, "Do I even want to know what this is for?" I smirked, "Nope." He shrugged, looking defeated. "They're sending me to Deimos, Alyssa." I froze. Deimos was one of Mars' moons, but it was famous for changing hands continuously through battle after battle. The legions of Chaos avoided the area unless absolutely necessary. At the moment, the Numbare controlled the planet but that could change at a moments notice. Why such furious fighting? The answer is simple. It was the largest base in the human solar system. At one point in time it was a flourishing tourist planet. It had a great view of the human planet, and it had the most advanced cloaking system to prevent any human scientists from finding the metropolis. As far as humanity was concerned, it was nothing but a lifeless rock. But, in reality, it had shifted from a tourist haven to a war torn hell hole, drained of nearly all resources, that power that remained was barely enough to keep the cloaking system on. But no one wanted to admit that the planet was dead. No one wanted to attract enough attention for Chaos to come raining down. The bosses of the galactic syndicates decided the best plan was to just keep throwing men and resources at the problem til one side or the other gave up. It hadn't happened yet. The last time the Numbare had been kicked off of Deimos, they had been completely wiped out. Not a single cartel member lived to tell the tale. That is why being sent to Deimos is nigh on a death sentence. I looked at my long time friend, he looked back. He stood there stoically. We both knew he would more than likely be dead soon. I knew I might never see my friend again.

I left the club and made my way back to the fortress of Chaos. Franklin and I didn't exchange anymore words. The cross bow was contained in a duffel bag I had slung over my shoulder. My trip back was uneventful. I felt afraid for my friend. At any moment a rival faction could decide that they wanted Deimos and attack, and he could die. I didn't speak to anyone,even after the fortress doors opened. I went straight to my quarters and dropped the bag on the floor. I collapsed onto my bed and cried.

_A Week Later, Back on Earth_

Getting back earth side took much longer than normal, the forces of Chaos had been drawn away to the other side of the milky way for some uprising. So I basically had to hitchhike all the way to Deimos and pay to get smuggled back. The gun runner I'd been working for was confused as to where I'd been. He asked a lot of questions to that effect. Thankfully, he was a bit forgetful when it came to me. So I told him I went on vacation, and that I had informed him I was going to do so. That problem was quickly solved. So on the same day of getting back from the other side of the galaxy I was back at my normal job. Leaning against a door in a back alley in LA, selling guns to idiots with fifth grade educations.

We hadn't heard anything from Alyssa in so long Nico was starting to freak out. He had been known to disappear for hours at a time before, but now. We didn't see him for two days, granted he came back with a duffel bag full of money, claiming he had been really busy on the east coast. But it was the premise of it that irritated us. Then we found out what he had gotten, along with the money he had a large ziploc bag full of drachma. While he was mum as to where he got the coins, he wasn't shy about informing us of the quantity, "Two hundred and thirteen." He told Thalia and I, right after we asked where he got them. It shut us up pretty fast. Just then, Nico's cell rang, it was Alyssa, she had called to tell us that the crossbow was in her possession and she was just waiting on us. He told her he would be there as soon as we could. He grabbed the bag of drachma and stuffed it into a back pack I hadn't noticed he was wearing. "I'm going alone." With that he turned and headed for the nearest shadow into which he disappeared.

I was pissed. Immortally so. I had spent so much time with her over the past weeks that I was confused when she disappeared for so long with no word whatsoever. It was like she had gone to another planet or something. I was really confused. I popped out of the shadows in her alleyway with a pissed off look. I wanted to yell I wanted to be mad, but how could I? I didn't have any reason to. She wasn't my girlfriend. She was barely my friend. With that in mind, I bitterly shoved my anger down my throat and approached her. She was just standing there like always, leaning against the door, with not a care in the world it seemed.

Nico was gone, which gave Percy and I some time to ourselves. Time that we had no idea how to spend. Normally when he was gone we would just make out or see who could do the most flips off the mattress piles, but at this point in the day, we had done those things already. Suffice to say, we were bored out of our minds. We were just sitting in our room, staring at the wall. In the months we had been on the run from the gods and the government we had talked about everything we could ever talk about. Each others family, why his mom made lots of blue food, and on top of all that, what we regret most. A subject that he had answered quickly, he regretted not telling his mom goodbye when he left for camp. When he asked me what mine was however, I couldn't speak. My mind wouldn't allow me to answer, I thought he would freak out. Today in the silence of the warehouse, he brought it up again. "What do you regret most Thals? Why wouldn't you give me an answer?" He looked at me with those big green eyes and a rush of guilt flowed over me. I couldn't keep his gaze, turning to stare down at my bare feet. While we were walking around the warehouse, we didn't bother wearing much clothes. It was rare for Percy or Nico to wear a shirt. A sentiment that I appreciated greatly, in relation to Percy. I didn't wear much either, normally it was just a t-shirt and lingerie, sometimes I would forgo the shirt. Right now though, I was afraid of telling Percy one of my deepest darkest secrets. "I'm afraid of what you'll say." I murmured, before I felt his hand under my chin, his skin was rough but soft in its own way. He lifted my head and turned it toward him, but I wouldn't look at him. "Thalia, look at me." I felt my eyes begin to water, but I looked anyway. "There is nothing you can say, that would change the way I feel about you." Just as I was about to answer him I heard something, a sound that didn't sound like the prince of death knocking over mattresses.

Percy was still looking at me, "Did you hear that?" I questioned. "Don't change the subject!" He obviously didn't hear it. "Percy, I think someone is in the warehouse." That got his attention, "It's probably just Nico." I pointed out that Nico probably wouldn't bother shadow traveling into the warehouse proper, and that he likely won't be back for a while yet. He got out of bed and went to get his gun, I did the same. "No, you stay here. If it's the cops there is no point in us both getting caught." He looked genuinely worried, walking across the room to stand eye to eye with me. More like eye to neck, since he was a bit taller than me. "And I don't want you hurt." It was statements like that, that made me melt and do what he said, normally. "Jackson, you need someone to watch your back. So throw me a shirt and let's go find whoever it is." He frowned, upset that he didn't get his way, but he did as asked.

A few minutes later we were wandering the aisles of mattresses looking for the source of the odd banging sound. Thalia, being stubborn as ever had refused to stay in the room. Silently I prayed to whatever gods didn't hate me that it was just Nico testing out some new weapon. After about thirty minutes we had cleared most of the warehouse close to the back offices where the rooms were. The only other real place to check was the place where the building had collapsed into the river. There of course is where we found the intruder. He was sitting in the water, staring down into it. He didn't appear to be wearing a shirt, but he seemed to be alive. We both trained our guns on him. I spoke first, "Stand up very slowly." The man's head lifted, and he stood thankfully he was clothed. We had to kick a naked hobo out once before. "Turn around, and don't try anything." Thalia interjected. A sigh was heard, and the man turned around. I hadn't noticed what he was wearing before, I had just been glad he was wearing clothes at all. But now I took notice. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, that had a large red stain on it, and Bermuda shorts. He had a tan that could only come from spending an eternity on a boat. He was none other than the god of the seas, Poseidon.

Poseidon wasn't awake for long when we found him. He looked us both in the eye and said, "Hello son." Before his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed forward. Percy didn't let him hit the ground. He caught his father before even a second had gone by. Poseidon looked frail. He looked fragile, like he might shatter at any moment. He was a god, supposedly immortal, but he looked as though he was knocking on Thanatos' door. "Little help here Thals?" Percy called out, a distressed tone in his voice that worried me. I immediately went to his side, he gestured with his head. "Take his legs. Damn gods are heavy." Together we managed to heft him as far as the offices. Since we were in a mattress warehouse, places to put him were not exactly at a premium. This was a very good sign, it proved that Percy had been right. That his father wasn't dead after all, and for a time, it gave us hope.

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><p><strong>I see you over there hanging off a cliff.<strong>

**Anyway, in this chapter I decided to bring the science fiction aspect of this story in a bit more. Epic eh? Oh an its pronounced NUMB BAR E. The e makes an a sound. Just wanted to clarify. Not sure what kind of a role they will play at this point. Still working on that part. Enjoy the update. Please review, the more reviews I get the faster chapter 12 gets uploaded. Until then. ~Muffin**


	12. Murder In Oakland

_One Month Ago_

Poseidon didn't move a muscle. He laid stoically in bed next door to Nico, for a very long time. The only way we knew he was even alive was the steady rise and fall of his chest. Nico didn't say anything when he got back from his visit with Alyssa. He just handed Thalia a duffel bag and went to his room, a stupid grin plastered on his face the whole time. Of course, when Thalia and I opened the duffel bag to discover her new weapon a big smile lit up her face as well. It was exactly what we wanted, so far as we knew anyway. We didn't exactly have a way to test the monster killing portion of it. So we killed time drawing a bulls eye on a random mattress and creating a shooting range of sorts. Thalia pulled by the string and locked it in place. She then rummaged around in the duffel bag looking for an ordinary crossbow bolt to practice with.

After a considerable amount of time, she withdrew several black bolts with burnt blue tips. "The normal bolts are all the way down at the bottom." she commented casually as she loaded the crossbow, took aim, fired and hit the target square on the bulls eye. Smirking in her own self worth she turned and moved to give the weapon to me. I, being the worst shot since the first blind man, stepped back, held up my hands, and shook my head. "Nuh uh. I don't want to put Nico's eye out." That caused her to giggle, which was odd in of itself. As Thalia Grace does not giggle. "He's way over there," She gestured to the right behind her with a shake of her head, "Behind a wall, both of bricks and mattresses, how could you hit him?" I assured her I would find a way, and eventually I convinced her to keep up with the practice.

_Flashback_

I saw Nico coming before he even rounded the corner. Being a daughter of Nyx I can sense any shift in the darkness around me, and someone coming out of the shadows is a bit of a red flag. I leaned back against the door and let my eyelids slid shut. I heard his feet beating on the pavement as he approached me. I heard the sound of him dropping something that sounded like canvas. "Before you say anything Nico, I just want you to know that I had to go to the ends of the earth to find this crossbow." I didn't even open my eyes. "Where the fuck were you?" he spoke through clenched teeth. The rage emanating from him was palpable. I sighed before opening my eyes, "I just told you dead boy." I turned my head to look at him with a half smirk. He looked pissed. "I mean, _Where _were you!" He shouted. I glanced toward the mouth of the alley wondering if anyone found that outburst curious. Oddly enough, there was no one there. "I don't see how it is any of your business Nico. I'm not your wife, I'm not your girlfriend. I can go where I please, when I please." I spat, laying down the law. At first his anger had been amusing but now it was starting to get annoying.

I didn't know what to say. For lack of a better phrase, she had laid down the law. She was right after all. I had absolutely no right to demand to know where she had been. I had no ties to her. I was nothing to her but a customer. She was nothing to me but a sleazy back alley gun dealer who happened to be a roman half blood. Fuck her. I crouched down and unzipped my backpack. I felt her eyes boring into my scalp. However, once I withdrew the bag full of drachma, her eyes went else where. "W.. Where did you get that?" she stuttered. I opened the ziplock bag and looked up at her with the coldest stare in my arsenal. "Camp Halfblood." I pulled out a hand full of the coins and threw them at her feet. "Give me my weapon." I was furious, but for some reason I felt powerful. It was then that it dawned on me. I could suck her into the pits of Hades on a whim. I nearly began to do so when a door slamming shut ripped my from my thoughts. I looked down at my feet to see a gray duffel bag, and the coins were gone.

_End flashback_

Thalia was still at our improvised shooting range. She told me that she had missed shooting something that didn't make her ears ring. I was sitting in our shared room staring at the ceiling. Thinking about nothing in particular, but then again I don't think much. Then my ADHD kicked in, and I whirled into a sitting position. I sighed and put my head in my hands. I began to wonder if Dad would ever wake up. He was comatose, that much was certain. But I didn't know Gods could even become comatose. Plus, this wasn't just any God. This was my Father! He was superman! I never ever imagined him in this state. I didn't know what to think anymore.

To put it plainly, I loved that crossbow. It was so freaking cool. I hadn't lost my touch from my time with the hunters. Every bolt found its mark. Every single one. It was a good way for me to take out my frustration. After all, I had just lost my dad. Percy's had shown up of course, and I was glad at least Poseidon was still alive. But it still hurt, even though my father was never really present in my life, he had saved my life. Which was something that I would be eternally grateful for. I sat on the ground across from the targets, the duffel bag that had once been full of bolts lay at my feet. I was still holding the crossbow, and for the first time since owning it, I took a good long look at it. It was black a boring flat matte black. I liked that, but it was too plain. It would have to do for now, as I didn't have any paint. I sighed, I set the crossbow down on top of the bag from which I had taken it before going to retrieve the bolts from the mattresses.

I walked the streets of the city. I had a lot on my mind. I had gone to a small gun shop and purchased a holster for my gun. A twenty dollar underarm job that worked perfectly with the coat I wore. It was getting to be December after all, and even though it was California, the temperature out warranted a coat. The black bandana from our first real robbery was tied around my neck. I wasn't happy. In fact, I was furious, grieving and on the warpath. Somehow, I had wound up in Oakland. Not exactly a good place to be when in that state of mind. The streets were a hub of activity, it was only four in the morning after all. Every sleazy hooker and pants on the ground gang kid was out and plying their trade. Of course, there was always one guy who didn't like the looks of you. One guy who wanted to make himself look good. One guy, who just happened to be a Latin King. "Hey! You!" I heard a voice calling someone from across the street. The same voice called out again, except it was louder this time. I heard the thunder of cheap shoes running across pavement. I turned around there they were, four Latin Kings. Four Hispanic boys of varying height, dressed in yellow. I personally thought they looked like bees, which made me chuckle under my breath. I kept walking and I heard them following me. "Hey! White boy! Turn the fuck around homes!" I reached up and grabbed my bandana and pulled it up over my nose. I turned around. Now that I could see them up close I noticed two things. One, not one of them was over fourteen and two, three of them were holding bats. "What do you want?" I asked from behind my mask. The one in front of the group, who was oddly enough the shortest, spoke up, "We wanna know why you're rolling up in our hood, dress like that!" He flicked his hand in my direction for emphasis, "Don't you know you in the Kings' hood?" I sighed and shook my head, "No I didn't. Why is that a crime?" The group smiled fiendishly, I knew they didn't just have talking in mind. "It was if I say it is mother fucker." I saw his arm move around his back. He had a gun. I saw his confederates begin to surge forward. I drew my gun and stuck it in his face. "Tell your homies to drop the bats or your brains will paint them." He paled, his hand was still stuck in his pants. The other three had seen the gun and stopped. "Yo drop 'em man." They didn't move. "Drop em you stupid fuckers!" A chorus of clangs met my ears as the bats hit the ground. "Thank you." The next ten seconds were the fastest ten seconds of my life. I pulled the trigger, then time seemed to slow. Before the other three could register what happened, they had bullets in their brains. I stared at what I had done. Four bodies lay in crumpled heaps on the ground, in the distance I could hear sirens. I didn't care. Calmly I tucked my gun back into its holster, turned around and kept walking. About a block down the road I found a can of black spray paint. I smirked.

_Tonight on Channel four news, A shooting in Oakland! Four dead and a mysterious black symbol painted on the wall behind them, Police are baffled at this turn of events. Channel four's Deborah Waters is on the scene. Deborah? Well Will, the scene is chaos here as loved ones of the victims are just arriving. Now, we cannot release their names, but we can tell you that they were all under the age of fourteen and seemingly they were killed in self defense. One of the victims was found with a gun and three baseball bats were very close to the other three victims. Now this is normal for this part of town, but the major oddity here that has Police confused is this. A large black symbol painted on the wall behind them. _The camera turned to the wall where a quickly painted black three is visible above four white sheets.

Thalia had noticed I was gone, but Nico had been other wise occupied in his own room. He had just as much on his mind as I did. I found her sleeping in our shared room. I stood there in the door way for a few minutes just watching her sleep. Then I went and sat on the edge of the mattress, which startled her to the point where she woke. I turned and rested my hand on her cheek. "Hey Thals.." "Hey.. where did you go?" she asked, clearly she had been worried about me. She grabbed my hand. We had ditched our phones after the cops started searching for us so calling wasn't an option. "I went for a walk." She groaned audibly, "Not you too! It's bad enough that Nico disappears for hours on end." I smiled at her, she deserved much better than me. We had all turned to a life of crime, but I was the only one who had actually killed any one. I stood from the bed and took off my coat and holster, then I laid down next to her.

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><p><strong>Took me long enough didn't it? This chapter was actually sitting half done for seven months and then today, I was bored so bam. Here ya go. I don't know when the next chapter will be up so don't ask. ~Muffin<strong>


	13. The Beginning Of Chaos

_Twenty four hours ago_

It happened in the early morning, Thalia and Percy were asleep. I was sitting up in my room staring at the wall, wondering what the hell I was thinking. I didn't know where to turn. If what we had learned our whole lives still rang true, what we were doing was a fool's errand. There was no way we could kill a God, being mere mortals especially. But then, I thought of my father and Thalia's, they were killed, by other Olympians of course. But they still died. I still had yet to figure out how exactly two of the big three had been taken out. It was beyond my comprehension. I decided to go for a quick walk around the warehouse, hoping desperately to clear my head. Of course I knew this wouldn't happen, as I had done this same action dozens of times before to no avail. After wandering through the seemingly endless isles of the warehouse, I found myself at the foot of the mattress where we had lain Poseidon so many weeks earlier. Only to find that he was gone.

I didn't have long. I knew it. The wounds they had inflicted were too great. I had to reach him. I had lain in a state, hoping that my body would heal. However, with the lack of nectar or ambrosia, my chances were slim. I knew I my body was failing me. Soon I would join my brothers in Hades. I had to tell him the secret. The most closely guarded secret of the Gods. The method for killing a God. I just had to reach him. My hand clutched the wound in the stomach. My remaining powers are the only thing keeping me alive. A mixture of blood and ichor ran down my body.

Needless to say, I freaked out. My first suspicion was that he had died, but that was unlikely as Percy spent a lot of time at, or near his Father's bed side. Then I noticed something, extremely dim light. A red stain on a mattress. A trail perhaps? Then it hit me, Poseidon had woken up. I ran off in the direction the blood indicated. "Poseidon!" I shouted, hoping that he wouldn't keel over before I got to him. Percy was gonna be pissed if his Dad died, especially if he died alone on a nasty floor. I vaguely heard a groan. I ran faster. Then I found him, collapsed in an alarming large puddle of blood with a golden tinge. He wasn't completely gone yet. "Percy.." the dying God groaned. "Son.. Listen to me.." He thought I was Percy, "It's Nico lord Poseidon. Percy!" I shouted, praying that he would hear me. However that may be, he is a notoriously heavy sleeper. I looked at him, blood poured freely from both the wound and his mouth. "Nico... Tell Percy..." He broke off, his voice was beginning to get weaker. "To kill a God... the God has to fear you.. The God has to fear its demise... What waits beyond.." He coughed up more blood and took a deep breath. "But.. you still must best said God in battle..." He was fading fast, with every passing moment the blood that leaked from him continued to get darker. It's ichor color was quickly fading. "Nico.. you must avenge us.. destroy them.. give the world.. to.. Chaos.." Then he breathed his last. The God of the Seas died in my arms on the dirty floor of a warehouse in LA. Suddenly his body disintegrated and turned to water. I didn't want think about how this was gonna go over with Percy.

Things were progressing at an alarming rate on Earth. The Lord of the Void watched the scene unfold through the lucis visus. He leaned back in his throne aboard the Donec Pretium. "Soon, I will have to come for them." He mumbled to no one in particular. He stood from his throne and walked to the front of his throne room. "Connect me to Commander Stryker." The ship's AI recognized this as a command and not musing of the over lord. An electronic tone played out to alert him that the command had been acknowledged. "Yes my Lord?" Commander James C. Stryker, was the Commander of the Donec Pretium. He was also Chaos' favorite opponent for the occasional game of chess. Chaos was quite fond of the human's game, and he had yet to lose. "Commander, I have I need to be in Sector E23." That was the name the space faring races gave to the human's solar system. "Ah, are we finally going to annihilate Deimos my lord?" Chaos seemed to ponder this for a few moments. It could be worked in perhaps. They would be in the same solar system after all. "Perhaps Commander. Perhaps. But that is not our main objective. Set a course for the outer reaches of Sector E23. Time is of the essence and the element of surprise is vital. We must not be detected Stryker. If our main objective is completed, I will allow you to shell Deimos from orbit." Chaos could almost see the man grin, while it was only a purgatory class vessel, the Donec Pretium was still a force to be reckoned with. It's guns were the size of the washington monument and the shells they fired made a tactical nuclear missile look like a child's toy. "Right away my lord." The connection was severed a moment later. Of course Chaos could simply teleport there, but that was too simple. Plus, he liked his riding in his fleet. "Attention. Attention. The ship has a new heading. Prepare for warp jump. I repeat. Prepare for warp jump." The Commander's voice echoed over the ship's loud speakers. The lord of the void casually walked back to his throne and settled down. They were currently cruising in the Coura system, clear on the other side of the universe from Sector E23. He tapped a button on the arm of the throne in order to bring up a display on the massive window before him. It showed a lot of curious information, ranging from active crew to the status of the pudding cups. Anything he wanted could be shown on this screen. "Show me Alyssa Holt's personnel file." The screen went blank for a moment before reappearing with everything there was to know about Captain Holt. Chaos began to read, he had skimmed the file before of course, but he had nothing else to do. Everywhere else on the ship everything was being tied down. Stryker stood on the bridge of the ship, directly below Chaos' thrown room. "Helmsmen, prepare for warp." The creature immediately to Stryker's left made an odd clicking sound, then it's limb pressed a button. The tell tale sound of a mass warp drive spinning up was audible, even as far as they were from the engineering deck. Stryker's lieutenant spoke up. "We're ready sir." The commander nodded. "Take us to warp." The helmsmen clicked excitedly and wrapped its limb around a lever in front of its form, which it pushed forward with all its might. A moment later, the massive ship was hurtling through space.

_I need to warn Alyssa.. _The Commander thought to himself. He adjourned to his quarters, leaving the piloting in the hands of the helmsman.

All was quiet in the small apartment that housed the daughter of Nyx. The apartment was quite small, but that was all she needed. At the moment she lay passed out on the futon in the living room which doubled as her bed. A custom built super powerful laptop sat on the coffee table in the middle of the room. All Captains of Chaos were given a machine similar to this upon the time of their first field mission. The same could be said for her, however she found that the laptop was antiquated. It barely worked on a good day and overheated upon contact with sunlight. Needless to say, it needed help. So upon her return to Vulcia, she had paid the R&D department five hundred thousand credits to make it bad ass, and they had delivered. The sleek ultra book sat open, but hibernating on the table. She didn't have internet service in the apartment, but all her neighbors did, and they were stupid enough to not encrypt their traffic.

About five thirty in the morning, a high pitched sound assaulted her sleeping form. A sound she knew all too well, incoming transmission from Stryker or another commander. She bolted up on the futon and grabbed the machine off the table, pressing the space bar to accept the call. "Captain Alyssa Holt." She spoke nondescriptly, she had no clue who she was talking to after all. "Holt. We just entered warp. We will be on the out reaches of your sector within a matter of days. Make sure the POI does not make their move before we enter Sector E23. That is all." Then the sound of a hand touching the microphone reached her ear and the call ended. Stryker had been the one to call. He was taking a huge risk by doing so, any Captains on assignment were not supposed to be contacted unless absolutely necessary. It had been bad enough that she had needed to get to Vulcia a while back. Now they were really in trouble if they were caught.

I couldn't believe it. Each member of the big three were dead. The last of which being my father, who had died on a grimy floor, with Nico. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he didn't go alone, but I wish I could have been there. So here we sat, the last three Greek half bloods on earth. To make matters worse, that wasn't the low point of the day.

_Meanwhile on Olympus _

"Found them." Apollo reported to the remains of the Olympian council. Hera, whom had not been paying attention to the rest of the Sun gods speech about the importance of prose, perked up at this curious sentence. "Found who brother?" Artemis beat him to the punch. Hera was happy to have Artemis on their side. When she had first formed her dastardly plan she had assumed that the god of the moon would have been more attached to her virgin hunters, but oddly, she was all for the plan. In fact, she had killed each of her hunters personally while they slept the night before the destruction of that awful camp. "The three who escaped. They are hiding out in Los Angeles." This was interesting news, they had thought that the three would come to them seeking revenge, instead they had run. "Fucking cowards, hiding from our power. Allow me to annihilate them mother, it would be my pleasure." Ares spoke up, slamming his fist upon the arm rest of his throne. "While your blood lust is inspiring son, I think that the it would be such a waste of your time. Apollo, Artemis. Kill them. Quickly." The two nodded and disappeared in flashes of light.

I hated each and every single one of them for what they made me do. My hunters, my beautiful virgin hunters, slaughtered by my own hand. Oh Chaos forgive me. Surely I will suffer in Tartarus. Now, they send me to kill yet more demi-gods. I don't know if I can do this. Apollo seems so sure of himself. He seems to know that our lives will be better without demi-gods, our Greek lives anyhow. I didn't see how that could be true, I missed hunting. I missed my girls. I have to make a decision, do I stand with the three or die at the hands of Olympus?

The three of us decided it was time for something bigger. Money was no longer a problem thanks to Nico, but we had some serious anger issues to resolve. Percy sent Nico to get as much firepower and body armor as he could buy. It was time to take this city by the balls and rip em off.

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><p><strong>Cliff hanger. I know. If ya don't like it ya aint' gotta read it. :D Its gonna be an exciting few chapters. I'm sure you all didn't expect an update so fast either. Till next time. ~Muffin<strong>


	14. Chaos

_Present Day_

The Donec Pretium rocketed out of warp behind Jupiter. Chaos stood at the forefront of his throne room. "Stryker, we cannot allow humanity to discover us. They are not ready for this knowledge yet. Activate the cloaking systems, and arm the arbitrary guns. I have a feeling that Captain Holt may need orbital support." Stryker nodded on the bridge, "Yes Lord Chaos." The commander severed the connection before delegating orders. "Helmsmen, put us in a holding orbit around earth. Captain Rydo, activate the cloaking shields. Ensign Gredi, bring all arbitrary guns online and keep them at the ready." The ship rocked forward and the view across the bow was positively astounding. Titan was just off the starboard side. Because of the bridge's location at the rear of the ship, Stryker watched as the gargantuan white and black vessel began to turn to stars. "Looks like R&D needs a raise." The joke earned a light chuckle from those present in the room as this was the first time Pretium's cloaking systems had been field tested. The last order Chaos gave was a bit more complex, there were two head gunners on the ship, one in charge of the planetary class guns and another in charge of the arbitrary guns. Arbitrary guns were anything that were not used in a space battle against another warship. Guns that another ship's shields would shrug off. They were useful against small fighters, but the legion had never faced an armada big enough to afford both, after all, war is expensive. The raw materials for the Morsus alone cost well over five hundred billion credits. Arbitrary guns were also used when they had a legion that needed close fire support. The only issue was that the Donec Pretium was Chaos' main battle cruiser. The arbitrary guns only just fell short of being planetary class, and there was a reason that the main guns were called **planetary class**. As in, firing them at a planet was not a good idea, the Nique 55 orbital shell that the main guns fired would make a hydrogen bomb look like a fire cracker. The arbitrary guns on the Pretium were Priest 88's. They fired the Nique 23 orbital shell, that was about as powerful as hundred ton fuel air bomb. Then of course they had the Numbare rail gun, which fired a 88mm depleted uranium slug at mach three, which would take a few minutes to reach the ground even at three thousand miles per hour. And, Chaos had ordered all of them to be brought on standby, which translated to the crew that they were about to rain hell on a planet. "Gredi keep your hand away from the trigger, I will not have any unauthorized shelling of a non-hostile planet. Are we clear!" Ensign Gredi stood up stock still and saluted, "Yes sir Commander Stryker sir!" Stryker nodded, He was proudly in charge of the tightest ship in Chaos' fleet. He hoped to be put in charge of the Morsus upon its launch. "At ease Gredi." He activated the ship wide intercom and decided to make an announcement. "Attention Crew. This is Commander Stryker. We are currently in neutral space, there will be absolutely zero weapons discharges unless ordered. Outside of that normal fire if fired upon regulations stand. In any case I expect all of you to be on high alert. We will be within Earth orbit inside of twelve hours. We must maintain absolute communications silence with anyone off ship. That is all."

_Meanwhile on Earth_

They were getting very aggressive, very fast. Nico had just cleaned me out of all manner of high end tactical gear. It was not a good sign. The three were going to move today. Far sooner than we had originally planned, I needed to slow them down. "I need assault rifles." He looked me in the eyes. I could see the fury burning in his eyes. I gulped audibly. "How many?" My voice nearly broke, I have to admit that I was worried he would get killed. "One for Percy and I, I also need as many preloaded beta-mags as you can sell me. Also, I need two new fancier side arms. Preferably custom 1911's if you have any." Currently, we stood in the arms room where I had first taken Nico so long ago. I felt like I was about to cry. A feeling I didn't understand at all as Captains of Chaos go through special training to prevent emotional attachment to a mark. Yet, I didn't want to tell him which cases contained the rifles he sought. I didn't want to sell him what he wanted. I didn't want him to die. I felt like I was going insane. I mean, after all we had only really spent a few months together. We had done business together, that was where our relationship ended. I wasn't attracted to him, or was I? "Case 11 is where the 1911s are, high end assault rifles are in the next room. Along with the ammo." I moved to stand by the door as he moved to bring down case 11. As he removed the lid I saw a soft smile appear on his face for a few moments. He wasn't too picky. He grabbed two off the top and didn't bother to ask how much. He had brought a duffel bag with him, a bag I assume was full of money. He removed the cheap gun I'd sold him when we had met and replaced it with the new nickel plated 1911 with ebony handles. A gun that would cost him two thousand dollars. The other that he'd chosen was solid black with a ported compensator. He unzipped the bag and tossed it in. "How much for these two?" I wanted to say something obscene so he'd argue and I could keep him here longer. "Four thousand. Two a piece. The rifles you're looking for plus ammo will run you another fifteen to thirty." Those were huge numbers, but he didn't seem to care. "Fine. Take me to the rifles."

I was furious with everyone and everything. When Percy had finally given me permission to buy bigger guns, I had jumped at the opportunity. I bought the pistols as a little present to him and myself. The guns we had worked, but they were absolute shit. If we died today, we wouldn't die because our guns jammed. We left the room with the pistols and walked down a short distance to the next door marked with a red x. She opened it and the room was full of wooden crates marked with different combinations of letters and numbers. I knew what I wanted. I wanted an H&K G36L. A beta-mag plus that rifle would make me a happy man. Percy had asked for something called an M-14 EBR. If not that then just to get him what I was getting. You couldn't get beta-mags for what he wanted though. "Looking for anything in particular?" Alyssa spoke up for the first time in about ten minutes. The crates were in no real order so finding what I was looking for wasn't exactly easy. "G36L preferably and a M-14 EBR, if you have one." Alyssa sighed and pointed to two crates on the very top shelf. "We keep the expensive stuff up there. Keep in mind if you get caught with these without the right papers you go to federal prison for a very long time. Especially considering their both automatic." The crates were with a bunch of others on the top shelf, about ten in all. "I'll take them, and as many pre-loaded magazines and beta-mags as you can sell me." She raised and eyebrow at me. "Don't you want to know how much?" I laughed darkly and turned to face her. "Sure. How much?" She adopted a very smug face. "Legitimately those guns fetch about five or six thousand. On the black market, which is where you are, they cost ten thousand a piece. With ammo and those two pistols you're buying, You're grand total will be twenty eight thousand." Without so much as bating an eye I crouched down, unzipped my duffel bag and pulled out three stacks of hundreds with paper bands around them which read, $10,000, and handed them to her. "Keep the change. Where is the ammo kept?" I questioned her as if I had just bought and hotdog and wanted ketchup. I used the first two shelves as a ladder to get my purchases down, and after about a minute they were on the floor. I really didn't want to take the boxes with me so I picked up each crate and smashed the end on the cement floor until it broke open. The guns were padded with hay so I wasn't worried about hurting them. With both guns now out of the boxes, I smiled. Both guns were plain black, but I didn't care. Alyssa stood behind me the whole time saying nothing. I could tell she didn't approve, which struck me as odd, she was a criminal after all. "Why are you doing this?" she asked me. This gave me pause, because to be honest, I knew, yet I didn't. We were after revenge. We were after anarchy. We were after Chaos.

"To free this world from the tyranny of the Gods." He told me, his face determined, his eyes focused. It was at that moment that I realized I cared for this guy from New York. I didn't want him to die. The laws of the Legion of Chaos prevent Captains from telling the mark of their identity unless they were in a life threatening situation in which orbital support need be called. At the moment she wasn't ordering up a rail gun, so it would have to wait. Ten minutes later, he was gone. All in all, he had purchased four guns, over ten thousand rounds of ammunition, and enough body armor to cover the whole body save for the head. 'Helmets are for pussies' is what he had said. I decided to arm up and stalk them, I could shadow travel as well being a daughter of Nyx. I had a feeling that they were going to need orbital support if the shit really hit the fan.

Thalia and I sat in our room at the warehouse, side by side on the bed we had shared for the last few months. We both knew that the likely hood of us surviving what we were about to do was low. Robbing three different major banks on the same day was going to be tough, even if we got out of the first two easily the cops would catch on by the time we made it to the last bank. But then, if this didn't create enough chaos, nothing would. We figured if we could get out of a bank in under five to ten minutes we would be okay. If we got pinned, we wouldn't be taking hostages. We'd send the kids out, but the rest were dead. I knew this could be a bit difficult for the other two, I was the only one who had ever taken the life of a non half blood. "Thalia.." I began, "If I die," she covered my mouth with my hand. "No. Don't even think that. We'll be fine, the both of us. We're gonna make it out of this." She smiled at me, a smile that was wavering. I cupped her cheek with my hand. "I love you Thals." I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers. A pair of slender arms coursed around my waist and held on tightly. A few moments later we broke the kiss for a breath of air, "I love you too Percy." Our lips reunited and slowly she fell back onto the bed. It was then that the kissing started to get more aggressive, my lips kissed more than just her mouth. I found myself pressing my lips to her neck and collar bone. I heard her gasping my name as I did so. I rested my hand on the hem of her shirt, and looked her in the eyes, searching for permission to go further. I saw her gulp, but she nodded. I slipped my fingers under the fabric and pulled it up and off her body. Exposing her pale yet toned stomach, and a belly button piercing. A piece of jewelry which made me pause, wondering what else she had done to her body. When I looked up to her face, I saw a devious smirk. I decided to ask, "Is there anything else you've done?" She giggled in a girly fashion, "You'll just have to look and find out." She murmured as she sat up to rip, literally rip my shirt off. I could hear stitches ripping. I heard the fabric join her shirt on the floor beside the mattress. She ran her hands across my muscular upper body, her eyes hungry, and lustful. I pushed her back down onto the bed. We had all night. The bank didn't open till nine, and it was currently midnight. We knew Nico would get back at some point, but we also knew that he wouldn't bother us.

We lay there panting. A sheen of sweat covered us as we came down from a mutual climax. I had released inside her, something she had never let me do before. We figured we were knocking on death's door as it was, so who gave a fuck? As we looked into each others eyes, blue into green, I realized that I would die for her. Nothing would happen to her while I still lived. I rolled off her and she moved to lay her head on my chest. Her hand on my stomach, fingering the many scars that had built up over the years. I began to softly rub her back, we were both terrified, but we would never let anyone know it. "I love you." We said at almost the same time. We fell asleep like that, at peace with the world. Happy and for the moment, safe.

We woke up to the sound of Nico banging on the wall. I yawned softly and sat up, Percy was fighting sleep. I got out of bed and went about finding my underwear. Percy finally sat up just as I was pulling a pair of panties on. I looked back at him, and our eyes met. I saw the fear in them, but I knew that he wasn't afraid for himself, he was afraid for me. Just as I feared for him. I loved him, oh gods I loved him. He meant the world to me. He sighed and got out of bed and began to dress just like me.

I waited for them just outside the offices. I laid out the armor and guns I had purchased. Thalia already had her crossbow, and Percy had convinced her to at least carry a side arm. She had decided to go with throwing knives, which made sense. Percy's face lit up in a wide grin when he saw that M-14. "Just like in that game.." He trailed off as he grasped the weapon and cycled the action a few times. Thalia had her crossbow in her hand and a quiver full of bolts on her back. I gestured to the armor, "I suggest you to get your armor on ammo packs on. The bank opens at nine." I was already anted up, my customary bandana was tied around my neck. My rifle was in my hand with a fully loaded beta mag. Percy set his gun down and picked up a set of body armor and began to undo to the velcro straps that kept it on. "Thalia.." He looked at her and shook the vest lightly, he was more concerned for her safety than his own. She smiled a smile so genuine I that I felt alone in this world. She laid the bow down next to his gun and stepped closer to him as he slipped the bullet proof vest over her shoulders. She reattached the velcro and gave it a yank to make sure it was tight. Percy brushed his thumb across her cheek with a sigh. He then went about putting on his own body armor. Ten minutes later, we were ready to take on this city.

My brother and I stood atop a building across the road from where we had found them. The warehouse had halfway fallen into the river. Did we think they were still there? No. We didn't, and considering that the son of Hades could shadow travel, we could sit here for week and never have a clue if they were there or not. "Why not just smite the building? We could ensure they couldn't come back." Apollo spoke, scratching his chin as he contemplated the option. I shook my head, "There is no reason for such flare brother. We must be patient. I have a feeling that they will make themselves known." I sat on the edge of the building and stared down at the place where the last three half bloods had lived. I was torn. I still felt loyalty to the Gods and to Olympus, but I couldn't help but feel sympathy for their cause. The Gods had shown terrible injustice to the demi-gods. They didn't deserve to die after everything they had done for us. Sure, they could over throw us if they chose, but that was unlikely. We were their parents after all. Except for me and Hestia, we didn't have any children. Yet we had succumbed to peer pressure, we had focused our power upon the children as if we hated and feared them just as much as the rest. I had killed my hunters. Girls who showed nothing but devotion and love to me, and I had killed them. They had died in vain. "What troubles you sister?" Apollo's voice shook me from my epiphany. "Nothing, I was simply lost in thought." I half smiled at him, hoping he would buy the half truth. "Ah I see, the prospect of ending this scourge is quite enthralling is it not?" I nodded in order to appease my brother, hoping that he would drop the subject and allow me to get back to my thoughts. Thankfully, he took my lack of speech as a signal to be quiet and let me think. Suddenly the sound of distant police sirens assaulted my ears. I got up off the ledge and looked at my brother, whom had a curious look upon his face. "Do you think that could be them?" I shrugged, "Might as well go check, anything is better than doing nothing." He said nothing more and disappeared in a flash of light. "Percy Jackson, I hope you're ready for this.."

The first bank was easy. Nico had gone in first, his voice rang out but I didn't pay attention to what he said. I was charging the counter. I had my gun leveled at the clerk directly in front of me. I leapt up and over the counter and struck the male clerk with the butt of my rifle as I went. Quickly I set about securing the people behind the desk. There weren't that many as the bank had just opened and was under staffed as a result. In total, there were four people behind the counter and three customers. I set eyes on one particularly heavy set woman who was standing near the vault door, which had already been opened for the day's business. I drew my pistol and pressed it to the temple of the man I had just knocked over. "You. Lard ass." I made her look at me. "Syren, throw fat ass a bag." We had each thought of call names before we left the warehouse. Thalia was Syren, I was Suffer, and Nico was Wrath. Thalia had been watching the door, she had the first of three duffel bags stuffed into a pocket on her cargo pants. She looked at Nico and the two of them switched places. She made her way to the counter and threw the folded up bag at the manager. "Now, fill it up please. We don't have a lot of time here, and for ever second you take past a minute we will kill someone. Starting with this poor bastard, and ending with you. Clear?" She was frozen with fear, clearly. "Go. Now." I ordered through clenched teeth. That seemed to do the trick and she snapped out of it. She ran into the vault and I could hear her stuffing money into the bag. I looked at the clock on the wall, thirty seconds had gone by. Forty five seconds, "You've got fifteen seconds bitch!" I shouted and clicked back the hammer of my 1911 for emphasis. I heard her shriek, and then the sound of a zipper met my ears. Then the clock ticked past a minute. I pulled the trigger, sending a hollow point round directly into the skull of the man beside me. A pink mist showered up beside me as another second ticked by, I heard the dull thud of a crossbow bolt connecting with flesh followed by a wail of pain. By the time the manger stumbled out of the vault, it was her turn.

The second bank was a bank of America, we kicked the door in and immediately knew this wouldn't be easy. Two armed guards stood at either end of the teller counter. The two guards jaws fell open upon the sight of the three of us. Dressed in all black tactical gear with faces covered, we looked pretty intimidating. Nico raised his rifle and squeezed the trigger, putting roughly fifteen rounds in the ceiling. "You two. Guards, if you want to keep your heads, pull out those nines and put em on the ground." I leveled my M-14 at the one on the left, Nico took the one on the right. "You have three seconds." They decided to be heroes, both of them went for their guns, two shots rang out and both of them took rounds to the chest. This bank was considerably more busy. Roughly ten patrons and seven employees were in the bank. I was at this point that I heard a voice. "You really thought you could hide from us?" I knew that voice. My jaw clenched and my expression contorted to one of rage. "Apollo. Show yourself!" I shouted, nothing happened. I roared in fit of rage. "Wrath, we're done here. You know what to do." Nico looked just as angry as I, he nodded. I turned and exited the bank just as Nico pulled the trigger on the crowd.

They were standing in the parking lot. Just the two of them, Artemis and Apollo, waiting. They had found us at last. "So.. You finally found me, right my lady?" Thalia spat at the god of the hunt, and for the briefest of moment, I saw hurt in the eyes of the goddess. Nico walked out just then and stood beside me. Both parties were waiting for the other to make a move. I let my gun drop to its sling and pulled Riptide from my pocket. It had been a long time since I'd used the sword. I uncapped the pen, and my sword appeared in my hands. "Apollo is mine." I spoke harshly, Apollo laughed heartily. "You really think you are a match for a god! Worthless mortal!" I took my M-14 off and laid it in the grass, I didn't need it flopping around.

It was time to make a decision. I summoned my bow. This was the moment, I could either shoot Apollo in the head, and side with them, or fight. I started to draw back my bow. When a sharp pain radiated from my thigh. I blinked, and looked down, a black arrow shaft stuck out from my body. Ichor bled from the wound. I looked back up to see my former lieutenant pulling back the string for her crossbow. She hated me. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt a pair of eyes on me before I heard the roar of my brother as he charged Percy. I wrapped my hand around the bolt that had embbedded itself in my leg and ripped it out. I cried out from the pain and threw the bolt to the ground. Ichor now poured freely from the wound. I blinked back tears. They would never forgive me for what I did. I took a pain filled step toward her. She who I had so wronged. She raised her crossbow and leveled it with my eye. "Thalia, please.. give me a chance to explain.." She closed the distance between us. "Shut up." She spat with hate. "I don't want to hear you lie to me." I fell to my knees. "Thalia.. I'm sorry.. I didn't want to do this.. Hera she was so convincing.." I cried openly now. I sobbed. I didn't want to die. "The fear, I felt it! Please.. I don't want to die..." Thalia was visibly shaken by my speech. Her hands shook, the crossbow wavered.

I matched Apollo blow for blow, the clanging of our swords was furious. I took a quick step back and parried his attempt to stab me. I leapt back again putting a distance between us. "Fight me!" He shouted, I held my sword in a defensive posture, for his inevitable charge. Which came just as predicted, he was like a blur, attacking faster than I could block. I felt his blade on my arm, and shin. It hurt, but I ignored the pain. I stepped back to give myself a moment to recover, I breathed heavily and he didn't even seem winded. Who did I think I was? I was going to die. He was going to kill me right then and there, he stood right in front of me. I held my sword to defend myself. He laughed again, "You really think you have a chance don't you? Pathetic hu.." He stopped short, for a moment I was confused, but then I saw a small hole in the armor covering his stomach. He looked down, seemingly unable to comprehend what had just happened. He had been shot, but I didn't hear a gun. Ichor gushed from the wound. Apollo touched the wound gingerly and marveled as the golden blood on his hand started to turn red. I saw him swallow. "How.. how did you.." he began, but I didn't let him finish. I charged, screaming bloody murder. The fact that he could be hurt rang out in my mind. I slashed, he dodged, I stabbed he parried, I slashed, I made contact, I cut his ear off. He screeched in pain and in the moment he was distracted, I stabbed him. I saw his eyes go wide and his breath caught in his throat. He stared at me. I drove the blade deeper. His hand came to rest on my blade. I heard the clang of his sword hitting the pavement. I twisted the blade and felt his blood splash onto my hand. "No.. I can't die like this.. Not at the hands of a mortal.." His knees went weak, I ripped my sword out and allowed him to fall to his knees. "Artemis! Help me!" He cried out. I looked over to where the goddess had been only to see her looking at her dying brother with a look of malice. Apollo saw this as well. I saw a tear fall from his eyes. I rested my sword on his shoulder and he turned back to face me. His hand clutched the hemorrhaging wound in his abdomen, I saw him swallow as a little bit of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. "You've won.. son of Poseidon.. You've won... please. Make it quick."

I watched from an alley across the street as Percy decapitated the God of the Sun. Almost immediately the skies went dark, I looked up to see the cause, clouds black as night covered the city. Less than a minute later a torrent or rain poured down upon me. I clicked the safety switch on my Rapter S9 rifle. I had shot him with depleted uranium slug fired with a charge of CO2 so as to silence the shot. He hadn't known what hit him. I held the gun in the ready position as I walked out of cover and walked across the street. Percy had moved to sit on the curb, breathing heavily. He was staring at the body of the sun god. I heard sirens in the distance. The cops were on their way. Nico saw me first, he started to lift his gun, but then he saw who I was. " Alyssa?" He looked me up and down, I was in my Chaos fatigues. Which he didn't pick up on, "Who are you?" Percy asked, his hand clenched around his sword, the blade still dripped with the blood of Apollo. "My name is Alyssa Holt, I am a Captain in the Legion of Chaos. He sent me as soon as you escaped from camp half blood. He deems you worth to serve in his legion." The sirens were deafeningly loud now. I heard the screeching of tires and the pounding of boots on pavement. The police were here. "Put down your guns now!" I turned around, there were four swat trucks and at least ten police cars, an untold sum of officers with guns drawn. "Alyssa Holt, com code 9348290, connect to Donec Pretium." I murmured into the mic sewn into my lapel, it was time for orbital support.

"Commander Stryker!" The coms officer shouted from behind me. "I have Captain Holt, she is requesting orbital support." Stryker grinned widely. "Then let's give it to her! There is a storm over LA that should provide perfect cover! Ensign Gredi!" "Sir!" Stryker stepped forward to stand behind him, "Target central Los Angeles, use Captain Holt's signal." Stryker looked at the targeting computer and watched as the camera zoomed in. The signal landed on the inside of a bank, the police were visible, firing at the bank. It was a stand off. "Target the swat trucks. The area of effect should take care of the rest." The Pretium had enough rail guns to hit each truck at the same time and then some. "Fire each gun once." Gredi's hands were steady, a little targeting reticule glowed green over each of the trucks. "Fire." Gredi tapped the red button, and somewhere else on the ship men loaded the slugs into the chamber of the rail guns as the capacitors charged in preparation to fire. As soon as the chambers were locked shut, the capacitors discharged and the rounds were away. "Rounds are away! Rounds are away!"

Of course we hadn't put down our weapons, Nico had opened fire as Thalia, Artemis, Alyssa and I ran for the bank the only cover there was. I scooped up my M-14 as I went. I took cover just inside the door, Nico kept spraying the cops as he slowly made he way back towards us. Then he stopped firing, and I heard the metallic clunk of an empty magazine hitting the cement. It was at that moment that he turned tail and ran for the door, the cops opened fire. Just as he got in the door way a bullet slammed into his back. He cried out in pain and fell onto his face, shouting expletives the whole time. "Shit! Nico!" Alyssa reached out and grabbed him by the vest and pulled him into cover. I could hear scores of bullets impacting the walls and windows. Thankfully for us however, this was a bank and as such the and the walls were quite thick. The windows however were not designed for such punishment and had shattered. Nico had managed to get to his feet, and had reloaded his rifle with another beta mag. He looked at me and nodded, we had to suppress these cops. Sure we knew that Alyssa had called in help from above, but we weren't wimps. We weren't going to wait for someone else to kill the enemy for us. Target acquisition would have to be quick as the rain of bullets had no relented even slightly. And the storm was growing quickly, water was running in the front door in a very small river. Nico had a bright idea, he laid the barrel of his gun on window sill and pulled the trigger, the sparodic automatic fire drew the attention of the police to him and away from me. I stood up and looked through the M-14's sights, I lined up a shot on a very fat man who was shouting at some men who were doing the shooting. I pulled the trigger, and his head exploded in a pink mist which appeared to scare the living shit out of them. After five more shots and five more dead I crouched back down in cover. "How long on those shells Alyssa!" Just then, I got my answer.

I heard the shells coming before they hit. They had fired the rail guns. They didn't whistle like a bomb, they roared through the atmosphere. The police heard it as well, they stopped firing as they were mystified by the sound. It was nearly deafening. "Get down!" I shouted, hoping I'd be heard above the roar. The only thing louder than the roar of the shells was the sound of them impacting the trucks. Four explosions within a second of each other. The sound was painful. I clasped my hands over my ears, a mere moment later the shock wave slammed into the building. Stucco material rained from the ceiling like snow. For a few moments, I was shell shocked. The world moved in slow motion, I looked around the room I was in. The three seemed almost un-phased, but then again they had fought through the titan wars. The goddess stood in the door way, simply looking out at the destruction. When my hearing came back, I discovered that the roar had changed tones. It had become the screams of men.

I brushed the stucco snow off myself and stood to look out the window. What had been a pristine street corner when we went in had turned into the pits of Tartarus while we were inside. Four massive craters stood in place of the swat trucks. The only sounds that I could hear now was the driving rain and the screams of the dying police officers. I looked upon this scene with awe. Was this the power that Chaos had to offer? Then I saw him. A man walking towards us in the rain. A bald man in a fancy black suit, he held an umbrella over his head to shield him from the rain. He was transfixing in his presence. I felt a power that both terrified and empowered me. I looked at Alyssa, and her eyes where the size of dinner plates. Apparently this was rare. Thalia stood next to me, and I reached out to grab her hand. We had done it. We had summoned the lord of the void. We had summoned Chaos.

"Congratulations to the three of you. You have done what many in my legion bet you could not do. You got me out of my throne room and out in rain." Chaos chuckled lightly. "Now, I think there is a ship you need to get acquainted with, and I do not believe that the police will take very kindly to that fact that their officers have all been struck by lighting. Or at least that is what they will say." The Lord of the void extended his hand to Percy, who took it with a firm hand shake. I felt as though I was unneeded now. Simply a God along for the ride. "Artemis." I looked to Percy as he began to speak. "I need you to go back to Olympus. I need someone I can trust." I nodded, I understood, of course I understood. All I had to do was tell Hera that they let me go. That they wanted to send a message. It was brilliant. "What do you want me to..." They were gone, all five of them. I was alone. My brother was dead. I had betrayed my family. Oh gods, what have I done?

* * *

><p><strong>Finally! Chaos is accomplished! The three have gone with Chaos to begin their service in his ranks. So we have reached a pinnacle in my story. It will take some time before the next chapter is complete. But this is the longest chapter ever, so be happy. ~Muffin<strong>


	15. Forward To Victory

War is hell, or so they say. There is one inescapable truth about war however, war breeds heroes. Not just any heroes, the kind of heroes who live on through the generations. The kind of heroes, whose deeds are remembered by history. People follow heroes. Heroes are born from people. The legions of Chaos are full of heroes. All of them are heroes in their own right, but some of them are not the same as others. Some of them did great things. Some of them did terrible things. Chaos is above right or wrong. Chaos cares not who you are, he cares what you did with the cards you were dealt. He cares about the impact you left on whatever world you came from. He cares about those who take, just as much as those who sacrifice. He takes whoever leaves a mark yes, but he rewards those whose marks are bigger. Unless they chose not to accept the positions offered, unless they chose to earn their right to be there. That is exactly what the three chose to do. They chose to refuse right to a title of Commander. They chose to earn that right. The only thing they accepted was the thing that everyone did. Immortality.

Immortality was tricky however, Chaos did have the power to bestow it outright sure, but he didn't like to do that for every single recruit. So a system was developed to keep the legion alive for millennia to come. The answer was nanomites. Little robots smaller than an atom that were injected into the blood stream. Approximately a billion at a time, these robots kept the body in check. They ceased the aging process and helped to heal wounds very fast. The only way to kill a solider of Chaos is to destroy the heart or brain, other wise the nanomites could heal just as fast as the damage was dealt.

They started at the bottom just like all new recruits. They demanded no special treatment, save for being spared the basic training simulation. The three of them started as Regions, the bottom of the barrel rank. Unfortunately they soon found out that starting at the bottom earns you the same quality of missions. Boring ones. Acting as a courier, loading magazines, lacing boots, things of that nature which had them bored to tears.

We were stationed on the Donec Pretium under the command of High Region James Larsson. He was sentenced to die on his home planet and rightly so, he had killed fifteen people in a botched hostage caper. Fortunately for him, Chaos saw his ingenuity and decided that he would be better suited in the Legion. As Regions, we were the flak jackets for the higher ups and special ops soldiers, basically we did whatever we were told. The only people who couldn't order us around were other regions. It was a day just like any other day, we were eating breakfast in the cafeteria when suddenly the section reserved for officers got quiet. A phenomenon that makes the regular troops nervous as it tends to mean that our lives are about to get that much worse. Sure enough about two minutes later Larsson was standing at the foot of our squad's table with some lovely news. "Chaos has decided that it is time to liberate Deimos. We are still in the solar system thanks to our three new recruits," He gestured to us with a good amount of unpleasantness, he got like that when he was interrupted from a meal. However we were different, he didn't like us from the start, mostly because we had been offered a commanding position and had the gall to turn it down. "So Commander Stryker managed to convince him to send us in. The planet still has valuable resources and the legion doesn't have a base in this system yet so you know what that means." The words hung like a dead bird over the people seated there, all except the three of us. We had been involved in massive engagements before and as such we knew what to expect. Except we were using guns now instead of swords. There were fifteen of us seated there, about fifteen hundred people of varying species and races were currently seated in the cafeteria. Thalia, Nico and I exchanged a few looks before I shrugged and decided to ask a question. "When do we drop?"

The Donec Pretium floated in orbit behind Mars, to shield the massive war ship from prying eyes on earth. Meanwhile inside the ship, the Regions were preparing for war. We were already prepared seated comfortably in our quarters watching the rest of the Regions rush about like so many chickens minus their heads. It was amusing. I looked at Thalia and Nico with a smirk on my face. We had changed in the past few months. Thalia had let her hair grow a bit longer, but she always kept it up unless we were alone. She had even experimented with dying it, but only a small portion. At the moment, the ends of her normally black locks were dyed bright blue to match her eyes. Her face was cold and unfeeling ninety percent of the time, and I had learned quickly that her eyes that made my heart melt could also strike fear into anyone. Me included. She rested her crossbow across her lap, a quiver of bolts lay at her side. The quiver was specially enchanted to remain full as long as it was touching her body. She wore the same armor we had worn the day we joined the legion of Chaos, Nico and I did the same. Plain black stab proof vest on top of a regular old Kevlar vest, we each wore the same thing. The only thing that was different in our appearance was the bandannas. Chaos had asked if we had an requests. We only had one. We got three different colored bandannas with large black three's emblazoned on them. Thalia's was blue, Mine was Green and Nico's was red. Currently they were tied around our necks. I looked to Nico as my hand unconsciously found Thalia's and gave it a soft squeeze. He had adopted the military style buzz cut months ago. He said that it made him harder to find in a crowd. He had bulked up using the simulation bays on that ship. How else is Chaos supposed to train hundreds of thousands of soldiers in a rapid manner? It's simple. The nanomites in their blood program the brain with what it needs to know. Nanomites can even grow the muscles. Nico had used this to his advantage.

I gripped Percy's hand tightly as my eyes scanned the crowd of frightened soldiers before me. Larsson told us that as soon as we had finished eating we had better go get ready. We had to be on standby for the drop. It wouldn't be long now. Nico, Percy and I were ready within ten minutes. All of us had our weapons from earth. While their guns had to be modified with RAAMU magazines, my crossbow only needed bolts. "You think they'll be ready in time?" I said to no one in particular. I caught Percy shrug out of the corner of my eye. "Look at them." Nico commented dryly. I had been, they were the biggest group of disorganized morons I had ever seen. It was at that moment that the klaxon sounded. Time to go forth and board the drop ships. "Forward to Victory." Percy spoke as we stood and calmly made our way to the ship bay as the rest of our unit groaned loudly.


	16. The End?

**Well everyone.. The time has come. **

**The story is over.**

**The Power Of Three is done. **

**"But," You say, "The Gods still live!"**

**Yes I know that. I'm getting to it if you will be quiet. **

**I originally planned for this story to be more than one. So that's what I'm gonna do. **

**If you liked this story and have followed it until now please check out the sequel _Forward To Victory _which will be published soon. **

**THANK YOU for all of the support. **

**May the stories continue, Forever and always. ~CrouchingAppleHiddenMuffin**


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